"1— ^?-'^
P5» 24;Z
X
BV 3415 .
B745
1915
Broomhall
, Marshall,
1886-
1937.
The jubil
ee story of
the
China In
land
Mission 1
THE JUBILEE STORY
OF
THE CHINA INLAND MISSION
Wheue Christ m'as not named.
"The China Inland Mission Avas formed under a deep sense of China's pressinj; need, and with an
earnest desire, constrained by the love of Christ and the hope of His coming, to obey His command to
preach the Gospel to every creature." — First Sentence of the rrincij^les and Practice of the C.l.M.
Frontispivcc.
"pHE JUBILEE
^ STORY
OF THE
CHINA INLAND MISSION
WITH PORTRAITS
ILLUSTRATIONS & MAP
By ^
MARSHALL BROOMHALL, M.A.
EDITORIAL SECRETARY
LONDON: MORGAN ^ SCOTT, LD.
12 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C
CHINA INLAND MISSION
NEWINGTON GREEN, LONDON, N
PHILADELPHIA, TORONTO, MELBOURNE, AND
SHANGHAI MCMXV
THIS RECORD
OF
god's faithfulness
is dedicated
to the memory of those who laid the foundations
AND
TO THOSE WHO BY THEIR GIFTS AND SERVICE
ARE BUILDING THEREON
Not from a stock of ours but Thine,
Jesus, Thy flock we feed.
Thy imexhausted grace divine
Supphes their every need ;
But if we trust Thy providence,
Thy power and will to save.
We have the treasure to dispense,
And shall for ever have.
*****
Our scanty stock as soon as known.
Our insufficiency
For feeding famished souls we own,
And bring it, Lord, to Thee ;
Our want received into Thy hand
Shall rich abundance prove.
Answer the multitude's demand.
And fill them with Thy love.
Charles Wesley.
For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, are all things.
To Him be the glory for ever. Amen.
Rom. xi. 36.
VI
FOREWORD
By the Rev. J. W. STEVENSON
For fifty years a member of the China Inland Mission, and for nearly
thirty years its Deputy-Director in China.
Having through the providence of God been closely associ-
ated with most of the events recorded in this Jubilee Story,
I gladly respond to the invitation to write a short Foreword.
No devout and thoughtful Christian can read these
chapters, setting forth the main facts relating to the progress
of the evangelization of China by the China Inland Mission,
without being impressed by the unmistakable evidence of
the presence and guidance of God. The record of what has
been accomplished by faith and prayer is calculated to
stimulate and encourage men and women everywhere more
fully to trust God in all circumstances. It should be a
help to the spiritual life of God's children, and lead to an
increase of intercession, service, and sacrifice for the extension
of the Lord's dominion over the hearts and lives of the millions
of China still uninfluenced by the Gospel.
The instances of privation gladly borne, and of the lives
laid down for Christ's sake will move the sympathetic reader,
and he will recognize that God's seal and special honour
have been graciously bestowed upon the Mission. And
as he ponders the long list of the beloved workers who have
joined the noble army of martyrs, he will feel that a peculiar
solemnity and sacredness is given to the whole record.
While there is cause for thankfulness for what has been
vii
X THE JUBILEE STORY
exceptions, no portraits have been reproduced of any who
joined the Mission later than the seventies. It may be
worth while to call attention to the fact that portraits of
all the women who first entered the nine unoccupied in-
land provinces are included.
The author had hoped to publish almost simultaneously,
as a special volume, the Annual Report for 191 5, giving for
this Jubilee Year a brief history of every central station,
instead of the usual yearly record of work done. In view
of the War, and the large amount of valuable material
which the workers at the stations have kindly supphed, it
has seemed well to postpone this Historical Report until
next year. When it is published it will, it is hoped, prove
a useful addition to the present volume.
The obligations of the author are many, and to all who
have kindly given assistance he returns sincere and grateful
thanks. Special help has been given by Mr. J. J. Coulthard
during his furlough, and by Mr. T. W. Goodall, the author's
esteemed editorial colleague, who has prepared the Index.
Few can be more conscious than the writer of the limita-
tions and defects of the book. Many readers will, it is
feared, seek for what will not be found within these pages.
Will such disappointed friends remember that drastic con-
densation has been a matter of necessity and not of choice ?
The story of the opening up of China, of the evangelization
of its provinces, and of the Di\dne mercy and providential love
which have encompassed the work, is so uphfting and vast,
that the author has felt as though he were, to adopt a phrase
of Horace, " dwarfing mighty themes.'* Yet, though this
volume is but an imperfect outline, it is hoped that the bare
facts recorded, even when stripped of much that could en-
hance their beauty, will appear to the reader, as they have
to the writer, as monuments of God's handiwork. " This
is the Lord's doing ; it is marvellous in our eyes."
MARSHALL BROOMHALL.
China Inland Mission, London,
March 31, 1915.
CONTENTS
Foreword, by Rev. J. W. Stevenson
Author's Preface
PAGE
vii
INTRODUCTORY
CHAP.
I. Early Missions to China
2. Hudson Taylor and his Call
3. Hudson Taylor's Early Experiences
THE FIRST DECADE
1865-1875
4. The Birth of a Mission
5. Laying the Foundations
6. The Lammermuir Party
7. Settling Inland
8. An Enlarged Coast
9. The Yangchow Riot
10. Two New Provinces
11. Troubled on every Side
12. Faint yet Pursuing
13. The Home Department
14. Waxing Strong in Faith
xi
21
27
34
41
45
53
63
68
73
79
86
Xll
THE JUBILEE STORY
CHAP,
15-
i6.
17-
i8.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23-
24.
THE SECOND DECADE
1875-1885
The Appeal for the Eighteen
The Door Opened .
Unto the Ends of the Earth
Pyrland Road
Pioneers in Women's Work
Blessings in Disguise
A Chinese Pioneer .
Healing the Sick
Pioneer Work in Hunan .
The Story of the Seventy
PAGE
99
105
108
116
122
133
136
141
146
153
THE THIRD DECADE
1885-1895
25. "The Cambridge Seven" .
26. Organization and Expansion
27. The Kwangsin River
28. North America
29. To EVERY Creature
30. Australasia .
31. Dividing the Field ,
163
170
176
183
191
199
206
THE FOURTH DECADE
1895-1905
32. The Wrath of Man
33. Newington Green ....
34. The Chefoo Schools
35. The Opening of Hunan
-^5
220
225
230
CONTENTS
CHAP.
36. Among the Tribes .....
37. The Boxer Crisis .....
38. Partakers of the Afflictions of the Gospel
39. Rebuilding the Wall ....
xm
PAGE
247
^55
THE FIFTH DECADE
1905-1915
40. A Period of Transition .
41. Mass Movements and Revival
42. Grace Abounding
43. To Earth's Remotest Bounds
44. Institutional Work
45. Facts about Finance
46. The Mission from Within
47. The Revolution and After
48. The Missionary at Work .
49. All Manner of Service
50. The Year of Jubilee
263
267
274
282
291
302
314
322
328
337
347
APPENDICES
The Associate Missions
Chronological Summary
Statistics .....
Index .....
357
366
372
375
PORTRAITS
GROUPS I. AND II.
I. W. Thomas Berger.
Mrs. Hudson. Taylor. 3. Theodore Howard.
4. James J. Meadows. 5. J. Hudson Taylor. 6. John W. Stevenson.
7. Emily Blatchley.
I. George Stott.
4. William Cooper.
7. W. D. Rudland.
I. George King.
4. James Williamson.
7, George Clarke.
I. J. F. Broumton.
4. Fred. W. Bailer.
7. Samuel Clarke.
8. B. Broomhall.
2. A. W. Douthwaite.
5. D. E. Hoste.
8. W. L. Elliston.
GROUPS III. AND IV.
2. George Duncan.
5. James J. Meadows.
8. George F. Easton.
Henry Hunt.
James M'Carthy.
J. J. Coulthard.
9. Mrs. B. Broomhall.
3. R. H. A. Schofield.
6. W. W. Cassels.
9. Charles T. Fishe.
Between pages 78-79.
3. James Cameron.
6. Charles H. Judd.
9. George Parker.
3. Adam. C. Dorward.
6. Edward Pearse.
9. George Nicoll.
Between pages 104-105.
GROUPS V. AND VI.
I. Mrs. George Stott.
4. Miss Crickmay.
7. Mrs. George King.
I. Mrs. F. W. Broumton.
4. Mrs. Henry Hunt.
7. Miss Kidd.
2. Mrs. F. W. Bailer. 3. Miss Desgraz.
5. Mrs. Hudson Taylor. 6. Miss Celia Home.
8. Miss E. Wilson.
9. Mrs. S. Clarke.
2. Mrs. J. J. Meadows. 3. Mrs. G. Parker.
5. Miss M. Murray. 6. Mrs. G. Nicoll.
8. Mrs. George Clarke. 9. Miss C. Kerr.
Between pages 122-123.
XV
ILLUSTRATIONS
Where Christ was not named
Some Fve-Lammermuir Workers
The Lammermuir Party
The first North American Party
The first Australasian Party
The Chefoo Schools
The Martyrs' Memorial Tablet
Group of Chinese Workers
The Shanghai Compound .
A Christian Family
Map of C.I.M. Stations
FACE PAGE
Frontispiece
29
38
183
199
225
247
267
314
347
End of volume
XVI
INTRODUCTORY
Chap. i. Early Missions to China.
„ 2. Hudson Taylor and his Call.
„ ^. Hudson Taylor's Early Experiences.
Christianity claims ttie world as the sphere of its operations : it
knows no other locality. It commands the nations to give up nothing
but what is injurious for them to retain ; and proposes nothing for their
acceptance but what they are miserable without. It casts no slight on
any one country, by exalting the virtues and glory of another. It repre-
sents all peoples and nations as on a level in the eyes of God — as equally
offenders against Him — equally subject to the decisions of His awful
justice — and equally welcome to the benefits of His abundant mercy.
Its moral and positive duties are equally binding on all to whom the
Gospel is made known — its salvation and privileges are open on the same
terms to all who will receive them, without distinction of age, rank, talent,
or country ; — and its tremendous sanctions will be executed on all who
reject or abuse it, without partiality, and without the possibility of appeal
or escape. It commands nothing inconsistent with the outward condition
of nations or of individuals ; while it contains the germ of every principle
necessary to render the throne stable — the nation prosperous — the family
happy — the individual virtuous — and the soul eternally blessed. — In A
Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protestant Mission to China.
William Milne.
EARLY MISSIONS TO CHINA
A FEW years ago the writer picked up, in a second-hand book-
shop, a copy of a Missionary Atlas of the World, published
in 1839. I^ "this atlas, probably the first comprehensive
Protestant Missionary Atlas issued in modern times, there
were maps of India, Ceylon, Africa, New Zealand, and
even neglected South America, with many other countries,
but no map of China. For such a striking omission
there was, however, a sufficient though no less a sad and
humbling reason. The one and only Mission Station in that
great country, the City of Canton, could be, and was,
marked upon the map of Asia. There was no need for a
map of China in a Protestant Missionary Atlas of the World
published in 1839.
But what a contrast to-day ! Any map or atlas of China
would need, if all stations and outstations were marked, to
show not less than seven thousand places. And all this
change has taken place since that first Missionary Atlas
was published, when Hudson Taylor was a child of seven.
Before we enter upon the story of the particular work
associated with Hudson Taylor's name, it may be well to
briefly survey those missionary efforts which had previously
been made in and on behalf of China, some of which were
prior to, as well as independent of, the life and history of
the Protestant Church.
Though tradition, not altogether unsupported by evidence,
reports the preaching of the Gospel to the Chinese by the
3
4 INTRODUCTORY
Apostle Thomas and others, the first certain knowledge of
Missions to China is connected with the Nestorians, who
entered that Empire as early as a.d. 505. The discovery in
A.D. 1625 of the Nestorian Tablet at Sianfu — recording the
arrival of a party of missionaries in A.D. 635, — the story of two
Arab travellers in the ninth century, and the evidence of
Marco Polo fom' centuries later, together \vith other Chinese
records, all tend to prove the widespread activities of those
early preachers of the Gospel. Little trace of their work,
however, has been left, though it is not impossible that
certain similarities between Northern Buddhism and
Christianity may be attributed to their influence.
During the thirteenth century, when Europe was deeply
stirred by the spirit of the Crusaders, and had but recently
been threatened by the hordes of Jenghis Khan, the first
Rom.an Catholic emissaries set forth upon the long overland
journey to the court of Kublai Khan. Here, under the
patronage of that celebrated founder of the Mongol Dynasty
in China, the first Roman Catholic Mission was established.
The story of this effort, and especially of the labours of John
de Monte Corvino, who translated the whole of the New
Testament and Psalter into the language of the Tartars,
and cheerfully endured great hardships until he sank beneath
his labours and advancing years, at the age of seventy-eight,
is full of suggestive interest. With the fall of the Mongol
Dynasty, however, in 1368, after a brief sway of less than a
hundred years, Christianity was for the time being swept out
of China.
The second Roman Catholic effort is connected with the
strong missionary propaganda of the Jesuits' counter re-
formation. In 1560, the Portuguese took Macao, and
Valignani, the Superintendent of the Jesuit Mission in the
East, who settled there, gave utterance to those oft-quoted
words : " Oh, rock, rock, rock, w^hen wilt thou open ! "
With the years of prosperity and court patronage, mingled,
however, with periods of bitter persecution, extending from
1579 to 1722, the names of such great men as Xavier, Ricci,
EARLY MISSIONS TO CHINA 5
Schall, and Verbiest are associated. With the death of Kang
Hsi, the greatest of the Manchu rulers, in 1722, Roman
Cathohc Missions entered upon a period of severe Hmitations
and, ere long, of cruel persecution. Hundreds of Chinese
converts were put to death with not a few European mission-
aries. Though many of the methods employed by the
followers of Loyola, Dominic, and Francis may be open to
criticism, their ability and influence are beyond question,
and their zeal was both an inspiration and reproof to many.
Their success in living in inland China, in spite of every
obstacle, was, as we shall see, one of Hudson Taylor's strong
arguments for Protestant missionaries doing the same.
In 1807, eight years before the Battle of Waterloo brought
peace to Europe, Dr. Morrison sailed for China in connection
with the London Missionary Society, as the first Protestant
missionary to that great land. At this time the East India
Company had the monopoly of all trade in the Far East,
and in consequence of their opposition to missionary work
he was compelled to travel via America. For twenty-seven
years, with only one furlough, he laboured on practically
alone, for Milne, who reached China in 1813 and died in 1822,
was not allowed to reside either at Canton or Macao. In
1834, th^ same year as the East India Company's Charter
expired, Morrison died, having left behind him for the use
of his successors a Chinese and English dictionary, the whole
of the Bible translated into the Chinese language, and the
Anglo-Chinese College established at Malacca. These tasks
had been accomplished almost single-handed, in the face of
almost every discouragement short of violent expulsion
from the country.
Shortly before his death he had been cheered by the
arrival at Canton and Macao of three American workers —
Bridgman, the founder of The Chinese Repository ; Wells-
Williams, the author of The Middle Kingdom, and Abeel.
China was still closed to the Gospel, and the London Mission-
ary Society was compelled to carry on its work for the
Chinese in the Malay Peninsula, under the title of the Ultra
Gangees Mission. The remarkable journeys of Karl Gutziaff
6 INTRODUCTORY
along the coast of China, in Chinese junks and other vessels,
during the years 1831 to 1835, aroused the greatest interest
in England and America, and indirectly led to the formation
of the Chinese Evangelization Society, which sent out
Hudson Taylor.
The cessation of the East India Company's Charter in
1834, the subsequent competition in trade, and especially in
the opium traffic, with the misunderstandings between the
Chinese Government and Lord Napier, who now as an
official of the British Crown claimed equal rank with the
Viceroy of Canton, soon gave rise to conditions which only
needed time and occasion to develop into war. That occa-
sion came when Commissioner Lin, in his determination to
crush the illegal opium trade, blockaded the foreign factories
and burnt 20,283 chests of opium, valued at two million
pounds sterling.
It is not possible wholly to exonerate either party in
respect to the war that followed. England had been almost
unbearably provoked by China's contempt and obscurantism,
while China's suspicions had been in part, at least, justified
by the evils of the opium traffic. No matter how many
factors conspired to make up the total of ill-will which
developed into war, the conflict itself, in its last issue, centred
around the opium problem, and in consequence that war
will, to the end of time, be not unnaturally known, to our
disgrace, as the first opium war.
As a result of this war, Hongkong was ceded to the
British in 1841, and by the Treaty of Nanking, signed in
the following year, the five Ports of Canton, Amoy, Shanghai,
Ningpo, and Foochow were thrown open to trade. At the
time of Dr. Monison's death there had been only two mis-
sionaries actually residing on Chinese soil, Messrs. Bridgman
and Wells- Williams, both of the American Board. In the
same year, however, Dr. Peter Parker, the founder of Medical
Missions in China, and the Rev. Edwin Stevens reached
Canton. With the opening of the Treaty Ports named
above, there was immediately a forward movement, and
from that time these five ports, with Hongkong, became new
centres of missionary activity.
EARLY MISSIONS TO CHINA 7
When the Treaty was signed in 1842 there were thirty-
two persons actively engaged in work among the Chinese,
either in China or in the Straits Settlements. Most of these
naturally availed themselves of the newly opened doors,
and transferred their work direct to Chinese soil. Such in
brief was the situation when the burden of China began to
be laid upon the heart of young Hudson Taylor.
II
HUDSON TAYLOR AND HIS CALL
In 1832 James Hudson Taylor was born at Barnsley in
Yorkshire. Before his birth his father had been deeply
moved in regard to the spiritual needs of China, in conse-
quence of reading several books upon that country, and
especially one by Captain Basil Hall. Being prevented
himself from going out as a missionary, he and his wife
definitely prayed that if God should give them a son, that son
might dedicate his life to that great land. This hope was
treasured up \vithin their hearts, and never mentioned even
to that son until he had been more than seven years in the
foreign field. The call, if there was to be one, must come
direct from God Himself.
Hudson Taylor, brought up amid the helpful influences
of a godly home, early had his heart softened towards things
Divine, and though he passed through a period of spiritual
indifference, and even of scepticism, about the age of sixteen,
he definitely accepted the atoning work of Christ on his
behalf in June 1849, when seventeen years of age. It was
not many months after this decisive experience ere he heard
the Call of God for the Mission Field. Having a leisure
afternoon, he retired to his own room for a time of com-
munion with God.
" Well do I remember that occasion/' he wrote in later years,
" how in the gladness of my heart I poured out my soul before God,
and again and again confessed my grateful love to Him who had done
everything for me — who had saved me when I had given up all hope
and even desire for salvation. I besought Him to give me some work
8
HUDSON TAYLOR AND HIS CALL 9
to do for Him^ as an outlet for love and gratitude ; some self-denying
service, no matter what it might be, however trying and trivial ; some-
thing with which He would be pleased and that I might do for Him
who had done so much for me. Well do I remember, as in unreserved
consecration I put myself, my Hfe, my friends, my all, upon the altar,
the deep solemnity that came over my soul with the assurance that
my offering was accepted. The presence of God became unutterably
real and blessed ; and though but a child ... I remember stretching
myself on the ground and lying there silent before Him with unspeak-
able awe and unspeakable joy."
Although from this time forth he felt the Call of God
upon him, and not free to accept other openings in life which
were offered to him, he did not then know for what service
he had been accepted. Before the year 1849 closed, how-
ever, the claims of China had been laid heavily upon him.
At that time there were but few books upon that country
which were accessible, but he succeeded in borrowing a copy
of Dr. Medhurst's China, the perusal of which strengthened
his sense of China's need, and at the same time impressed
him with the value of Medical Missions. This impression
directed the course of his studies during the next two or
three years.
But the Call of God to China was to be even more definite
yet. It came to him, so wrote his mother in her little book
of recollections, as definitely as if a voice had spoken the
words, " Then go for Me to China." Concerning this
experience Mr. Taylor wrote himself :
Never shall I forget the feeling that came over me then. Words
can never describe it. I felt I was in the presence of God, entering
into covenant with the Almighty. I felt as though I wished to with-
draw my promise, but could not. Something seemed to say, " Your
prayer is answered, your conditions are accepted." And from that
time the conviction never left me that I was called to China.
Nearly four years were yet to elapse ere he set sail for that
distant land, and these years were to be full of spiritual and
intellectual preparation. He was to be brought so to
subject his will to God as to be willing, on account of family
claims, to remain at home. He was to be tested through his
affectionate nature as to whether this call to the foreign
10 INTRODUCTORY
field, or the heart of the lover, should govern his conduct.
He was, through many and varied experiences, some of
which sounded the very depths of his soul, to prove the
power of prayer to move the arm of God. He was to learn
many real lessons of faith in God, in whom both he and those
who subsequently joined him were to put their trust. In
the midst of such lessons on the deepest things of the Spirit
he steadily and hopefully continued his medical and other
studies.
And all this time the call to China was sounding louder
and louder in his ears. In the spring of 1850 a magazine
entitled The Gleaner in the Mission Field began to be pub-
lished, in order to give the latest tidings of Dr. Gutzlaff and
his workers in China. The information thus supplied was
eagerly devoured by the would-be worker in that field, and
through this medium he was introduced to the Chinese
Evangelization Society, under which organization he was
ere long to set forth. All his correspondence at this time
reveals how heavily the burden of China had been laid upon
his heart. The zeal of the Lord literally consumed him, and
we find him in 1852 writing to his mother in the following
strain :
Oh Mother, I cannot tell you, I cannot describe how I long to be
a missionary ; to carry the Glad Tidings to poor perishing sinners ;
to spend and to be spent for Him who died for me. I feel as if for this
I could give up everything, every idol, however dear. ... I feel as if
I could not live if something is not done for China.
Thus burdened, and with the flame of sacred love burning
in his heart, he prayed and sought to know God's Will as to
the channel through which he should set forth, for Go he
must, whether he went unsupported or not. The Societies
which then had work abroad were thought of, but of them
he wrote in 1850 to his sister :
The Wesleyans have no station in China. The Established Church
have one or two, but I am not a Churchman. The Baptists and In-
dependents have stations there, but I do not hold their views.
Thus exercised he was the more cast upon God for guid-
ance, and He, in whose hands are all our ways, led him to
HUDSON TAYLOR AND HIS CALL ii
offer to the Chinese EvangeHzation Society. By them he
was gladly accepted, and on September 19, 1853, as a young
man of only twenty-one, he set sail from Liverpool in the
sailing ship Dumfries, a. vessel of scarcely 470 tons burden.
After a voyage of over five months, beset at times with almost
overwhelming dangers, he safely landed at Shanghai on
March i, 1854.
Ill
HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES
From that spring day in 1854, when Hudson Taylor landed
in Shanghai, to the midsummer of i860, when he embarked
for England, the future founder of the China Inland Mission
was to pass through a period of severe missionary probationer-
ship, all-important to himself and to the future work. Into
these nearly six and a half years were to be crowded many
and varied experiences, all of which were to test and prove
the man as well as the principles upon which he was to
establish that Mission. The period therefore was one of
fundamental importance, and there is a natural temptation
to tell somewhat in detail the story of these years, so pregnant
with great issues, but as the story has already been so fully
told elsewhere,^ we must content ourselves with briefly
summarizing some of the outstanding facts and lessons.
Distance was a formidable reahty in 1854, when Hudson
Taylor first reached Shanghai. The Suez Canal had, of
course, not been opened, and ocean-going steamers, with the
exception of an occasional gunboat, were almost unknown
in Eastern waters. Japan was as yet a closely sealed
country, and telegraphic communication with the Far East
was not even partially established until ten years later.
Those were the days of the sailing vessels, of the famous
tea-clippers, and, sad to say, of the armed opium schooners,
with their sinister traffic. Letters to China cost 2s. 8d. per
half ounce, and the charges on each separate paper was 6d.
1 A Retrospect, by J. Hudson Taylor ; and Hudson Taylor in Early
Years, by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor.
12
HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES 13
Up to 1846 ten months had been necessary to get an answer
to a letter from China, but though this period had been
considerably shortened, for the mails, when Hudson Taylor
sailed, he must have felt keenly his isolation when he stepped
ashore at Shanghai, an unknown and un welcomed stranger.
And as to the country itself, he was to find this in no
suitable state for residence. The Taiping Rebellion, which
had broken out in 1850, and had in its earlier stages inspired
the hope within many hearts that it would prove to be a mass
movement toward Christianity, had begun to degenerate into
a cruel and sanguinary movement, which was for the next
ten years to devastate the fairest provinces of China, and
result in the loss of millions of lives. Shanghai itself had
fallen into the hands of a band of rebels, known as the Red-
Turbans, while an army of from forty thousand to fifty
thousand Imperial troops had infested the city, to the
no small danger and discomfort of the little European
community.
Under such circumstances living outside of the Settle-
ment was impossible, yet within that limited and privileged
area accommodation was scarcely to be had at any price.
To make matters worse, the dollar had risen to an almost
prohibitive figure, so that the prospects of the new arrival,
who had only a small income in English money, were dark
indeed. Of two friends, to whom he had letters of intro-
duction, one was dead and the other had left the country,
but through the third and last letter, addressed to Dr.
Medhurst, he was introduced to Dr. Lockhart, who most
kindly allowed him to live with him for a period of six
months.
Upon the expiration of these six months, which had been
assiduously devoted to study, he moved into the Chinese
city, although such a step was attended with no little danger.
It was only for a few months, however, that this attempt to
live among the people was practicable, for when the French
joined the Imperialists in attacking the city, he was obliged to
return to the Foreign Settlement.
" Of the trial of this early period/' he subsequently wrote^ " it is
scarcely possible to convey any adequate idea. To one of a sensitive
14 INTRODUCTORY
nature, the horrors, atrocities, and misery connected with war were a
terrible ordeal. The embarrassment, also, of the times was consider-
able. With an income of only eighty pounds a year, I was compelled,
upon moving into the Settlement, to give one hundred and twenty
for rent, and sublet half the house. . . . Few can realize how distressing
to so young and untried a worker these difficulties seemed, or the
intense loneliness of the position of a pioneer who could not even hint
at many of his circumstances, as to do so would have been a tacit
appeal for help."
Such were some of the adverse conditions under which
the young missionary entered upon his new sphere of service,
and in which he had in a very practical way to learn to lean
upon his God. Nothing daunted, however, he steadily
faced the appointed task, and in the autumn of his first year
set forth, in company with Dr. Edkins, on his first missionary
journey. The greater part of the next year, too, was de-
voted to a series of extensive and arduous journeys, some-
times in company with the Rev. J. S. Burdon, afterwards
Bishop of Victoria, Hongkong, with whom he endured no
little rough handling from some of the mobs encountered.
It was at this time that he was led to adopt the Chinese dress,
a custom which, in consequence of its manifest advantages
for living and working inland, became, with a few exceptions,
general in later years throughout the Mission.
Toward the close of 1855, in consequence of consular
instructions forbidding him to settle on Tsungming island,
where he had successfully rented premises, he was obliged,
with a sad heart, to return to Shanghai. This prohibition,
disappointing as it was at the time, was instrumental in
bringing him into contact with the Rev. William Burns, of
the English Presbyterian Mission, with whom he was to be
closely associated for some seven months. Together these
two workers engaged at first in evangelizing many cities
and towns in southern Kiangsu and northern Chekiang,
and later, in similar work in the city of Swatow.
These months of fellowship with so experienced a Christian
and soul-winner were of great value to Hudson Taylor at
this formative period of his life. Writing in later years of
those days, he said :
HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES 15
Those happy months were an unspeakable joy and privilege to me.
His love for the Word was delightful, and his holy and reverential Hfe
and constant communings with God made fellowship with him satisfy-
ing to the deep cravings of my heart. His accounts of revival work
and of persecution in Canada and Dublin, and in Southern China were
most instructive, as well as interesting ; for with true spiritual insight
he often pointed out God's purpose in trial in a way that made all Ufe
assume quite a new aspect and value. His views, especially about
evangelism as the great work of the Church, and the order of lay
evangelists as a lost order that Scripture required to be restored, were
seed-thoughts which were to prove fruitful in the subsequent organiza-
tion of the China Inland Mission.
When in July 1856 Hudson Taylor left Swatow to fetch
his medical outfit from Shanghai, he had hoped soon to re-
join Mr. Bums. But this was not to be. Upon reaching
Shanghai, he was distressed to learn that all his medical
instruments and stores had been destroyed by fire. Hoping
to obtain a fresh supply from his colleague, Dr. Parker, he
set off for Ningpo, but on this journey was robbed of all his
possessions, valued at about ^^40. This trying experience was
overruled of God to affect his future in more ways than one.
In the first place it delayed his immediate return to
Swatow, which was providential. For some years past
there had been strained relations at Canton between the
Chinese and foreigners, and Lord Palmerston had resolved
" to take advantage of the first occasion to coerce the Chinese
into relations of a normal character." The seizure by the
Chinese of the lorcha Arrow, and the hauling down of the
British Flag, which it was illegally flying, gave the occasion,
and from that date, in October 1856, until the ratification,
at Peking in October i860, of the Treaty of Tientsin, signed
two years before, an almost continuous state of hostilities
continued between the two nations.
Under such circumstances a return to the south was im-
practicable and dangerous, and, moreover, William Burns
had been arrested and sent to Canton. Thus was his way
hedged in until there seemed no other course open for him
but to return to Ningpo and unite in service with his
brethren. Dr. Parker and Mr. John Jones of the Chinese
Evangelization Society. And indeed, the same Spirit who
i6 INTRODUCTORY
suffered not St. Paul to go into Bithynia was guiding the
footsteps of Hudson Taylor also, for the three and a half
years of more settled work in Ningpo which followed were
to play no unimportant part in his preparation for future
leadership. And even his robbery upon the road was not
without its blessings, for his policy of not prosecuting the
man who had robbed him so commended itself to a Christian
in England as to secure the lasting friendship of one who was
to be a generous donor for years to come.
These years at Ningpo were lived in the midst of troublous
times, as has been suggested above. The bombardment of
Canton was not unnaturally resented by the Cantonese Hving
in Ningpo, and only the guardian hand of God dehvered the
little band of workers in "that city from deliberately planned
massacre. And while learning to trust God for protection
from evil, the young missionary learned to trust God more
fully for his daily bread. It was during this period (May
1857) that he and Mr. Jones were led to sever their connection
with the Chinese Evangelization Society, in consequence
of that organization being so frequently in debt. This
separation, which took place without the least breach of
friendly feeling on either side, was not a Httle trying to faith,
but here again opportunity was afforded of testing on the
field the principle of faith in God for temporal supplies
which was to be so extensively relied upon in years to come.
It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that it was at this
time that the mottoes of " Ebenezer " and " Jehovah
Jireh," which have meant so much to the Mission ever since,
were apparently adopted.
In January 1858, Hudson Taylor was married to Miss
Maria Dyer, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Dyer, one of the
early representatives of the London Missionary Society in the
Far East. Blessed with such a helpmeet, he gave all his
time and strength to evangelistic work, until, in 1859 when
Dr. Parker left for England, he took over the care of the
hospital also. Thus, really overwhelmed with work and
tried by sickness, he and his noble wife laboured on, proving
God's sufficiency for every need, in the midst of much bitter
anti-foreign feeling, which at times threatened life itself.
HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES 17
The need of helpers was, of course, sorely felt, and on
January 16, i860, Hudson Taylor wrote home to his parents :
Do you know any earnest, devoted young men desirous of serving
God in China, who, not wishing for more than their actual support,
would be willing to come out and labour here ? Oh for four or five
such helpers ! They would probably begin to preach in Chinese in
six months' time ; and in answer to prayer the necessary means for
their support would be found.
But this was not to be yet. The incessant physical and
mental strain involved in caring for a growing Church, as
well as the hospital, were more than health could stand,
and by the summer of the same year an immediate furlough
became necessary, if life was to be spared. Hudson Taylor
was therefore under the painful necessity of closing the
hospital, and of leaving the little company of from thirty to
forty Christians who had been gathered together. Taking
with him a young Chinese to help in literary work at home,
he and his wife set sail for England (July i860), earnestly
praying that through their home-going God would raise up
fresh labourers for the needy province of Chekiang.
THE FIRST DECADE
1865-1875
Chap.
The Birth of a Mission.
Laying the Foundations.
The Lammermuir Party.
Settling Inland.
An Enlarged Coast.
The Yangchow Riot.
Two New Provinces.
Troubled on Every Side.
Faint yet Pursuing.
The Home Department.
Waxing Strong in Faith.
19
It is not easy everywhere, especially in England, to set about doing
what no one has done before. Many people will undergo considerable
risks, even that of death itself, when they know that they are engaged in
a cause wliich, besides approving itself to their consciences, commands
sympathy and approval, when they know that their motives are ap-
preciated and their conduct applauded. But in this case custom was to
be violated, precedent broken through, the surprise, sometimes the censure,
of the world to be braved. And do not underrate that obstacle. We
hardly know the strength of those social ties that bind us until the moment
when we attempt to break them.
Florence Nightingale.
What I have to tell you illustrates two truths, which are, to my
mxind, confirmed by the inner history of all vital evolutions of which we
know anything in the past history of the human race. The first of these
two truths or principles is, that in order to produce a movement of a vital
spiritual nature some one must suffer, some one must go through sore travail
of soul before a living movement, outwardly visible, can be born. . . ,
The second truth which, I think, is illustrated by our experience is
this : a movement which is of God, of divine origin, and which is rooted
in the will of Him who is the God of Justice, is and must be preceded by
prayer. It must have its origin in His own inspiration.
Josephine E. Butler.
IV
THE BIRTH OF A MISSION
Much of the world's work is done by pent-up forces. The
steam which drives the engine does so because it is conserved
and fettered. Its very Hmitations are the secret of its
power. And this is sometimes true in human Hfe. What
are the yearnings of the heart but the pent-up forces of love.
And nothing can so intensify these as to hedge in their
activities. This was to be the experience of Hudson Taylor
now.
The call of God and the needs of China had brought him
out from home to the land of his adoption, and there, face
to face with the actual facts of heathenism, he had realized
as never before how unutterably real were China's spiritual
need and claims. With an unreserved devotion he had
thrown himself into the midst of the conflict, and had
undoubtedly found no small relief in the joys of active
service.
But now that outlet for his passionate love was to be
stopped through failing health. The little group of Chinese
converts, to whom he had become so attached, must be left
behind, as well as the unevangelized millions. To Hudson
Taylor this failure of health seemed nothing less than a
great calamity, and his only relief was to be found in earnest
pleadings with God. But He who orders all our ways was
planning for His servant far more wisely than could then
be seen.
The day before leaving China Mr. Taylor had written
to his kind friend, Mr. W. T. Berger, saying :
21
22 THE FIRST DECADE
We are bringing a young Chinese brother with us, to assist in
translating, and, I hope, to assist in teaching the dialect to fellow-
workers, if the Lord induces any to return with us.
And all the way throughout the voyage home, he and his
wife had prayed that God would make this enforced furlough
the means of raising up at least five helpers to labour in
Ningpo and the province of Chekiang. The larger needs of
inland China had not then begun to press upon him as a
practical problem. That was to come, as we shall see.
Meanwhile, the prayer was for " at least five helpers " for
the needs of Ningpo and locality, and in this he was to
prove that prayer was God's method for calling forth
labourers as well as for obtaining funds to support them.
When Mr. Taylor first reached England he did not
anticipate any lengthened stay, but medical opinion soon
assured him that any return to China for some years was
impossible. Saddened and perplexed by such a prospect,
he settled in East London, where he devoted himself, with
the Rev. F. F. Gough of the Church Missionary Society, to
the revision of a version of the New Testament in the Ningpo
colloquial, as well as to the completion of his medical studies
at the London Hospital, when he took his M.R.C.S. degree.
During this same period of study and literary work he
was brought into contact with some whose hearts were being
drawn towards China. These were invited to come and
spend some time beneath his roof, and there through personal
contact and their success in the study of Chinese, their fitness
for the field was tested.
And prayer was answered, for from that home in East
London the workers asked of God for the little Ningpo
Mission all set forth. The first of these were Mr. and Mrs.
Meadows, who sailed in January 1862, while the last three
sailed in April 1865. These were the forerunners of many
hundreds who were to follow in later years.
While these practical illustrations of answered prayer
were being given, — and the detailed story of these years
shows how fully God was guiding, — Hudson Taylor was
being trained of God in another school for his future re-
sponsibihties.
THE BIRTH OF A MISSION 23
" While in the field/' he wrote^ " the pressure of claims immediately
around me was so great that I could not think much of the still greater
needs of regions farther inland ; and if they were thought of^ could do
nothing for them. But while detained for some years in England^
daily viewing the whole country on the large map on the wall of my
study, I was as near to the vast regions of Inland China as the smaller
districts in which I had laboured personally for God ; and prayer was
often the only resource by which the burdened heart could gain any
rehef."
At the same time as this wider vision of China's need was
being given, a deeper insight into God's purpose was being
gained. The message to Israel of old was coming home to
him — " Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch
forth the curtains of thine habitations ; spare not, lengthen
thy cords and strengthen thy stakes." The daily sight of
that map of China, with its vast unevangelized regions, came
as a daily call to lengthen the cords, while the daily study
of God's Word for the purposes of translation was a daily
lesson in strengthening the stakes.
" In undertaking this (translation) work, in my shortsightedness,"
he wrote, " I saw nothing beyond the use that Book, and the marginal
references, would be to the native Christians ; but I have often seen
since that, without those months of feeding and feasting on the Word
of God, I should have been quite unprepared to form, on its present
basis, a Mission like the China Inland Mission.
" In the study of the Divine Word I learned that to obtain successful
labourers, not elaborate appeals for help, but first, earnest prayer to
God to thrust forth labourers, and, second, the deepening of the
spiritual hfe of the Church, so that men should be unable to stay at
home, were what was needed. I saw that the Apostolic plan was
not to raise ways and means, but to go and do the work, trusting
in the sure word, which had said, ' Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you.' "
It was during this period when Hudson Taylor was
engaged in study, in the translation of the Scriptures, and
constant prayer for China, that a request came from the
Rev. W. G. Lewis of Bayswater, the Editor of the Baptist
Missionary Magazine, for a series of articles on China.
This seemed to be God's opening for placing the facts
24 THE FIRST DECADE
before the public, but the subject proved gi-eater than had
been anticipated, and what was commenced for this magazine
grew into a book of over one hundred pages. The detailed
study of the facts, which was necessary for the writing
of this book, only fanned the flame of zeal within the
heart of the writer, and though the final results were not
published until October 1865, the many months of prayerful
pondering over the needs of China — for the book was more
than a year in preparation — played an important part in
leading up to the momentous decision at Brighton in June
1865.
It was evident that, all his experiences were heading up
to a crisis. He had been much exercised as to whether he
ought not to join one or other of the existing Missionary
Societies, and he had approached the leading Missions in
England in regard to the needs of Inland China. But their
hands were already full, funds were short, and, moreover,
Inland China was regarded at that time as closed. While
engaged in prayer and conference with his friend and fellow-
worker, the Rev. F. F. Gough, and also with Mr. and Mrs.
Berger, and his own wife, the growing conviction laid hold
upon him that God would have him venture forth himself in
faith.^ On June i, 1865, he wrote to his mother from East
Grinstead :
I desire^ if the Lord will^ to get four missionaries, two married and
two single, off by the end of the summer or the beginning of the
autumn. ... It is much pressed on me to try and get twenty more
European missionaries besides these four, so as to send at least two
1 In the discussions connected with the founding of the Church Mis-
sionary Society, it was decided " that, if clergymen could not be obtained,
laymen should be employed as catechist to teach the Gospel to the heathen.
The remark of Mr. Venn, in reply to an alleged objection that such a
proceeding would violate Church order, was this : ' I would sacrifice a
great deal to preserve Church order, but not the salvation of souls.' " —
Memoirs of Rev. Henry Venn, vSecretary Church Missionary Society.
" Wesley's conviction of the importance and necessity of the lay
ministry had been deepened since the last session. Providential circum-
stances every day rendered it m.ore evident that the great reUgious interest
which had begun in the land must be conducted forward chiefly by that
agency or be generally abandoned. Next to revelation itself, such pro-
vidential indications were decisive to Wesley's judgment." — Stevens'
History of Methodism, vol. i. p. 246.
THE BIRTH OF A MISSION 25
into each province of China Proper in which there is no missionary,
and two into Chinese Tartary ; and to try to send with them an equal
number of Chinese helpers, making in all forty-eight persons (beside
those on the way) requiring support. The expense of these would
exceed £5000 a year. Will you earnestly pray God to guide me aright
whether to attempt this or not ?
It was an encouragement, in considering this great
undertaking, to know that Mr. Berger had promised to care
for the work at home, but it was a large venture of faith, and
as he faced all that was involved, while he was bound to
confess that God was able, he yet dreaded the responsibility.
It was true that he had already proved God's faithfulness to
himself personally, and the five workers prayed for had been
given and their needs supplied. Yet he shrank from all
that was involved in leadership, and held back, until the
hidden fires of this controversy with God began slowly to
undermine his health. '' The feeling of blood-guiltiness
became more and more intense." " Perishing China so
filled my heart," he wrote, " that there was no rest by day
and little sleep by night."
It was while he was in this state of heart and mind
that his old friend, Mr. George Pearse, concerned about his
health, invited him to Brighton. Concerning the crisis which
followed, we must quote Mr. Taylor's own words. These are
as follows :
On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a congrega-
tion of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own
security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered
out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony ; and there the Lord
conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to God for this
service. I told Him that all the responsibihty as to issues and con-
sequences must rest with Him ; that as His servant, it was mine to
obey and to follow Him — His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me
and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once
flowed into my burdened heart ? There and then I asked Him for
twenty-four fellow-workers, two for each of the eleven inland provinces
which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia ; and writing
the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home
with a heart enjoying rest such as it had been a stranger to for months,
and with an assurance that the Lord would bless His own work, and
that I should share in the blessing.
24 THE FIRST DECADE
before the public, but the subject proved gi'eater than had
been anticipated, and what was commenced for this magazine
grew into a book of over one hundred pages. The detailed
study of the facts, which was necessary for the writing
of this book, only fanned the flame of zeal \\itliin the
heart of the writer, and though the final results were not
published until October 1865, the many months of praj'erful
pondering over the needs of China — for the book was more
than a year in preparation — played an important part in
leading up to the momentous decision at Brighton in June
1S65.
It was e\ident that, all his experiences were heading up
to a crisis. He had been much exercised as to whether he
ought not to join one or other of the existing ^lissionary
Societies, and he had approached the leading Missions in
England in regard to the needs of Inland China. But their
hands were already full, funds were short, and, moreover.
Inland China was regarded at that time as closed. While
engaged in prayer and conference with his friend and fellow-
worker, the Rev. F. F. Gough, and also ^^ith ]\Ir. and Mrs.
Berger, and his own \rife, the growing con\dction laid hold
upon him that God would have him venture forth himself in
faith.^ On June i, 1865, he \\Tote to his mother from East
Grinstead :
I desire^ if the Lord will, to get four missionaries, two married and
two single, off by the end of the summer or the beginning of the
autumn. ... It is much pressed on me to try and get twenty more
European missionaries besides these four, so as to send at least two
1 In the discussions connected with the founding of the Church IVIis-
sionary Society, it was decided " that, if clergymen could not be obtained,
laymen should be employed as catechist to teach the Gospel to the heathen.
The remark of Mr. Venn, in reply to an alleged objection that such a
proceeding would violate Church order, was this : ' I would sacrifice a
great deal to preserve Church order, but not the salvation of souls.' " —
Memoirs of Rev. Henry Venn, .Secretary Church Missionary Society.
" Wesley's conviction of the importance and necessity of the lay
ministry had been deepened since the last session. Providential circum-
stances every day rendered it more evident that the great reUgious interest
which had begun in the land must be conducted forward chiefly by that
agency or be generally abandoned. Next to revelation itself, such pro-
vidential indications were decisive to Wesley's judgment." — Stevens'
History of Methodism, vol. i. p. 246.
THE BIRTH OF A MISSION 25
into each province of China Proper in which there is no missionary,
and two into Chinese Tartary ; and to trv- to send with them an eqiial
number of Chinese helpers^ making in all fomy-eight persons (beside
those on the way) requiring support. The expense of these would
exceed £5000 a year. WiU you earnestly pray God to guide me aright
whether to attempt this or not ?
It was an encouragement, in considering this great
undertaking, to know that >Ir. Berger had promised to care
for the work at home, but it was a large venture of faith, and
as he faced all that was involved, while he was bound to
confess that God was able, he yet dreaded the responsibihty.
It was true that he had already proved God's faithfulness to
himself personally, and the five workers prayed for had been
given and their needs suppHed. Yet he shrank from all
that was involved in leadership, and held back, until the
hidden fires of this controversy with God began slowly to
undermine his health. " The feehng of blood-guiltiness
became more and more intense." *' Perishing China so
filled my heart," he wrote, " that there was no rest by day
and little sleep by night."
It was while he was in this state of heart and mind
that his old friend, >Ir. George Pearse, concerned about his
health, in\ited him to Brighton. Concerning the crisis which
followed, we must quote Mr. Taylor's own words. These are
as follows :
On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a congrega-
tion of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own
security^ while miUions were perishing for lack of knowledge. I wandered
out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony ; and there the Lord
conquered my unbeUef, and I surrendered myseK to God for this
service. I told Him that aU the responsibihty as to issues and con-
sequences must rest with Him ; that as His servant, it was mine to
obey and to foUow Him — His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me
and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once
flowed into my burdened heart ? There and then I asked Him for
twenty-four feUow- workers, two for each of the eleven inland provinces
which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia ; and writing
the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home
with a heart enjo\Tng rest such as it had been a stranger to for months,
and with an assurance that the Lord would bless His own work, and
that I should share in the blessing.
28 THE FIRST DECADE
had in Articles VIIL, IX., and XII. promised religious
liberty, authorized British subjects to travel inland, and
also permitted the building of Churches and Hospitals.
What was there to hinder ? Nothing, apparently, but the
apathy and indifference of so-called followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Were not Roman Catholics already living
and working in the interior ? Then, why should not
Protestants do so also ? This argument is somewhat fully
referred to in the first edition of the book, but in the third
edition, issued three years later, the contrast of these two
Churches is more fully set forth as a reproach to Protestant
Christendom.
" We refer the reader," he writes, " to the deeply important paper
appended to the preface to this (the third) edition — the comparative
table of statistics of Roman Catholic and Protestant Missions in
China in 1866 — which will prove most suggestive to the thoughtful
mind. How is it that 286 Roman Catholic missionaries, with but few
exceptions, not only can live but are actually residing in the interior,
are labouring in each of the eighteen provinces (and in the outlying
regions), and are spread over the whole extent of these provinces ;
while the 112 Protestant missionaries, with still fewer exceptions,
are congregated together in the few free Ports of commerce ? "
A first edition of three thousand copies of this burning
appeal was published in October, through the generous help
of Mr. Berger, and copies were by permission freely dis-
tributed at the Mildmay Conference, held that year, which
at that time was held in the last week of October. Another
edition was called for in the following year, and another in
1868, and again another in 1872, and then for a time the
book was allowed to go out of print. But between June
1884 ^^^ September of the same year a fifth edition of five
thousand copies was exhausted, and a sixth and seventh
edition followed soon after. We have briefly related these
facts in regard to the circulation of this remarkable book,
because its influence was felt far and v^de, and led not a few
in later years to offer themselves for service in China.
We must now, however, retrace our steps to the days
when the book was being completed. In addition to this
printed appeal, opportunities were sought for personally
P3 4:r
W S
o ^
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 29
speaking to God's people. To this end Mr. Taylor attended
the Annual Conference for the Deepening of the Spiritual
Life at Perth in 1865, and, as we have already mentioned,
spoke at Mildmay, where he circulated his book. In
February of the following year he visited Ireland in company
with Mr. Grattan Guinness, and held meetings at Dubhn,
Cork, Limerick, Belfast, and other places. It was upon
this occasion that he met an interesting group of men in
Mr. Grattan Guinness' theological class at Dublin. Among
these were John McCarthy, Charles and Edward Fishe, and
the subsequently famous Thomas Barnardo. With the
exception of Mr. Barnardo, all these went forth to China,
and Barnardo himself came to London as a candidate ; but
while engaged in his medical studies, at the suggestion of
Mr. Taylor, his well-known work for the outcast children
of London began, which proved to be God's call to him to
stay at home.
The interest at home had begun to grow. On October 3,
1865, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Stevenson and Mr. Stott had sailed
for China, to strengthen the hands of the little group already
there, and applications from more than forty volunteers
soon gladdened Mr. Taylor's heart. From among these
some fifteen or sixteen of the most suitable candidates were
invited to come and stay with Mr. and Mrs. Taylor in East
London, that their qualifications for the work might be
tested. The home at Beaumont Street had already proved
too small, and a larger house in Coborn Road had been
taken, which, however, soon became inadequate.
While God was thus blessing and developing the work,
much time was being spent by Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and
Mr. and Mrs. Berger, sometimes at the lovely home of the
latter at East Grinstead, in earnest prayer and conference
as to the principles and practice which should govern the
new organization. Without any attempt to lay down
detailed rules, a few broad principles began gradually to
manifest themselves as essentials for hearty co-operation.
With these as a basis, the future could safely be left with
God, Who, as His people walked with Him, would reveal
His mind and will as the work developed. It was wise that
30 THE FIRST DECADE
it should be so, for as another, whose influence has been felt
throughout the world, has said, " The small still beginning,
the simple hardship, the silent and gradual struggle upw^ards,
these are the climate in which an enterprise really thrives
and grows. Time has not altered our Saviour's lesson on
that point, which has been learnt successively by all re-
formers from their own experience," ^
In the first place, it was decided to form the Mission upon
a broad catholic basis, the work to be evangelistic and
interdenominational, the few workers who had gone forth
before the close of 1865 being from most of the leading
denominations of Great Britain.
Then in regard to the labourers themselves, while it
was acknowledged, and we quote from the first edition of
China s Spiritual Need and Claims, that
" there is ample scope for the highest talents that could be laid upon
the altar of God ; there being an urgent call for men filled with love
to God^ whose superior education would enable them to occupy spheres
of usefulness into which others could not enter " ; yet " the proposed
field is so extensive, and the need of labourers of every class is so
great, that ' the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee ' ;
nor yet again the head to the feet, ' I have no need of you ' ; therefore
persons of moderate ability and hmited attainments are not precluded
from engaging in the work. . . , There was need of and work for a
Paul, an Apollos, a Luke, as well as those who were manifestly ' un-
learned and ignorant,' but of whom men ' took knowledge that they
had been with Jesus.' "
It was intended, for the early days at least, that Ningpo
and its neighbourhood should be the base for their operations,
and it was therefore proposed to select one of the towns
or cities easily approached from Ningpo as headquarters.
Events justified this proposal, for Hangchow became the
centre of affairs during the earlier years. There the early
missionaries were to increase their acquaintance with the
language, and acquire a knowledge of the habits and customs
of the Chinese, and there they could assume the dress of
the people and begin to labour among them. From that
centre they were to go forth to more distant provinces,
1 Florence Nightingale.
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 31
and to that centre they could return in case of sickness or
persecution.
In regard to funds, it was estimated that on the plans
and extent proposed a yearly expenditure of about £5600
would be needed in addition to the £2600 required for
outfit and passage money. " These are large sums," wrote
Mr. Taylor, " but they will not exhaust the resources of our
Father, who said, ' Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.' "
A sum of £2000, or a proportionate part of the expenses of
each of the labourers had been promised. One worker was
already supported by a Church at home, and it was believed
and hoped that other Churches or private individuals would
be led to take a similar course. An account was opened
in the London and County Bank, and it being necessary
for this purpose to adopt a definite name, that of the China
Inland Mission was finally decided upon, as being on the
whole most suitable, though it was added, " We do not, in
adopting the title China Inland Mission, propose to abandon
the work at the base line of Ningpo." This principle, it
may be said, has governed the Mission in all its developments
inland ever since.
Mr. W. T. Berger had already consented to carry on the
work of the Home Department when Mr. Taylor should
return to the Field, so friends were notified that contributions
could be sent direct to the Bank, or to W. T. Berger, Esq.,
Saint Hill, East Grinstead, or to Mr. Hudson Taylor at
30 Coborn Road, Bow, until his departure.
It was decided that there should be no collections or
authorized appeals for support, in order that funds might
not be deflected from other channels. Thus, although Mr.
Taylor did not hesitate, when he thought it desirable, as
the early records of the Mission will show, to publicly state
what financial outlay certain developments involved, there
was to be no soh citation of money, but a simple dependence
upon God to move the hearts of His stewards, as His servants
obeyed His bidding.
It was also thought desirable that the workers should
adopt Chinese dress. The advantages of this Mr. Taylor
had himself proved, and in the third edition of China's
32 THE FIRST DECADE
Spiritual Need and Claims, published in 1868, was printed
an Appendix of ten pages, mainly taken from a paper
prepared for candidates, setting forth in forcible argument
the reasons for this practice. A few extracts from that
paper may well be quoted here, rather to indicate the spirit
which was to animate and govern the whole Mission than
to prove the advisability of the adoption of the Chinese
dress, which was in reality only one incident in the mis-
sionary's attitude towards the people he sought to win.
" Had our Lord appeared on earth as an angel of light/' Mr. Taylor
wrote, *' He would doubtless have inspired far more awe and reverence,
and would have collected together even larger multitudes to attend
His ministry. But to save man He became man, not merely like man,
but very man. And furthermore. He was specially sent to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. The immediate objects of His personal
ministry being those under the law. He likewise was made, born, under
the law ; and became, not a mere proselyte, but a real Jew, for it
became Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren. In
language, in costume, in everything unsinful. He made Himself one
with those He sought to benefit. Had He been born a noble Roman,
rather than a Jew, He would, perhaps, if less loved, have commanded
more of a certain respect ; and He would assuredly have been spared
much indignity to which He was subjected. This, however, was not
His aim : He emptied Himself. Surely no follower of the meek and
lowly Jesus will be likely to conclude that it is ' beneath the dignity
of a Christian missionary ' to seek identification with this poor people,
in the hope that he may see them washed, sanctified, and justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ! "
" There is, perhaps, no country in the world in which religious
toleration is carried to so great an extent as in China. The chief
objection that prince and people have to Christianity is, that it is a
foreign religion, and that its tendencies are to approximate believers
to foreign nations. I am not peculiar in holding the opinion that the
foreign dress and carriage of missionaries — to a certain extent affected
by some of their converts and pupils, — the foreign appearance of the
chapels, and indeed, the foreign air given to everything connected with
religion, have very largely hindered the rapid dissemination of the
truth among the Chinese." . . .
" Let us live in their houses, making no unnecessary alterations in
external form, and only so far modifying their internal arrangements
as attention to health and efficiency for work absolutely require. Our
present experience is proving the advantage of this course. . . .
" Having now given in detail my reasons for maintaining the
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 33
general principle of conforming oneself as far as possible to the social
condition of the people for whose welfare we labour^ and having
pointed out the applicability of this principle to the case of the Chinese
in particular, together with some of the collateral advantages resulting
therefrom, it will be seen that it is not without reason that I desire to
see this principle thoroughly carried into effect. Should any of you
conclude to join our work, I trust you will do so with a full under-
standing of its nature, and the determination, by God's help, to act in
consistency with it. Let there be no reservation : give yourself up
wholly and fully to Him whose you are, and whom you wish to serve
in this work, and then there can be no disappointment."
VI
THE "LAMMERMUIR" PARTY
With the closing of the year 1865, the year which had
seen the foundations of the Mission laid, all the friends and
students at Coborn Road gathered together for a special
day of prayer and fasting. ^ There were many things in the
retrospect, even at that early date, for which to thank God,
while the problems of the new year, upon the threshold of
which they then stood, were such as to call for earnest
prayer and supplication.
Nine workers had already gone forth to China, of whom
three were still upon the sea. In and around Ningpo
upwards of one hundred converts had been baptized since
the autumn of 1857, ^.nd several members of that Church
were showing real zeal by spending all their spare time in
evangelistic work. At home, also, there were encouraging
signs of God's presence. The house at 30 Coborn Road had
proved too small for the growing work, so that No. 34 and
half of No. 33 had been taken, and so far all the expenses
of rent, taxes, board, firing, and salaries had been met by
special donations given for that purpose. A valuable
printing press, with two fonts of type, a lithographic press,
and a large electro-magnetic machine had been presented
to the Mission for the work in China. During the year
£1130 : 9 : 2 had been received towards the Mission's
expenses, of which sum over £900 had been given since
that memorable day in June at Brighton. All these things,
1 From that time onward, December 31 and May 26, the anniversary
of the saihng of the Lammermuir , have been observed as days of prayer
and fasting throughout the Mission.
34
THE " LAMMERMUIR " PARTY 35
together with an enlarging circle of sympathizing friends
and an encouraging number of candidates, were causes for
thanksgiving.
But there were also many subjects for prayer. The
tidings from China had been somewhat chequered. Some
of the workers had been sick ; one, Mrs. Meadows, had died,
and another had married outside the Mission. Some of the
converts, too, were causing sorrow rather than joy. Then
there was the unknown future, with all its possibilities and
responsibilities. Since June regular prayer had been made
for 24 European evangelists, and an equal number of
Chinese helpers, for the eleven unevangelized provinces
and Mongolia. Some of these workers had already
volunteered, and the way seemed opening up for Mr. Taylor
to return with the first large band.
Feeling that such a step was no light matter, and that
a false move now might bring disgrace and contempt, not
only upon God's people, but also upon God's cause, Mr.
Taylor had decided to set apart the last week-day of the year
for waiting upon God. As ever since that day, December 31
has been kept in the Mission as a day for prayer and fasting,
the following extract from Mr. Taylor's letter, in which he
inaugurated this custom, will be read with special interest
by many. Writing from 30 Coborn Street on December 26,
1865, he said :
We have concluded to set apart Saturday next (the 30th) for
devotional exercises. We have now arrived at a very momentous
stage of our work. Besides the eight of our brethren and sisters who
are now in China, or on their way there, between twenty and thirty
others are desiring to serve the Lord there in connection with us.
How much we need the Lord's guidance both for them and for our-
selves ! We have undertaken to work in the interior of China, looking
to the Lord for help of all kinds. This we can only do in His strength,
and if we are to be much used by Him, we must Hve very near Him.
We propose, therefore, to seek the Lord, both in private and unitedly,
by prayer and fasting (see Acts xiii. 2) during the earHer part of the
day. We shall meet unitedly from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., and from
4 P.M. to 5.30 P.M.
And so the year closed with earnest pleadings with God
that He would glorify His Name, and the New Year was
36 THE FIRST DECADE
entered upon with a fresh assurance that He would certainly
do so.
Early in the year 1866, the first official organ of the
Mission was issued under the title of China Inland Mission
Occasional Paper, and on February 6, Mr. Taylor sent the
MS. of the first number to the printer. In this issue he
stated that he hoped to leave England for China about the
middle of May, in company with his wife and four children,
and a party of some ten workers. To meet the expenses
of so large a party, funds, he said, " to the amount of £1500
to £2000, according to the number going, would be required."
And now occurred a significant and encouraging illustra-
tion of the power of prayer which was to set God's seal upon
the contemplated venture of faith. Just one month and
six days had elapsed since the commencement of the year,
during which period £170 had been received. It was mani-
fest that if so large a party as was anticipated was to sail in
May, funds for that purpose must come in much more
freely. The fact that from £1500 to £2000 would be needed
had been mentioned in the MS. sent to the press, but as
there was no reason for delay in taking this need to God, a
daily prayer meeting was immediately arranged. Owing
to unexpected delays in the engraving of the cover, etc.,
this first issue of the Occasional Paper was not ready for the
publisher until March 12, which happened to be another
period of one month and six days. By this time £1274
had been received in answer to prayer, and it therefore
became necessary to insert a coloured shp in the forthgoing
magazine to let friends know that the sum mentioned as
needed had been already supplied.
It is instructive to compare the moneys received during
these two equal periods, and also the funds received during
a similar period after the need had been met :
December 30 to February 6 . . . £170 8 3
February 6 to March 12 ... . 1974 511
March 12 to April 18 529 o o
It will be seen from these figures that previous to the
publication of the paper, and not as a result of it, God had
THE " LAMMERMUIR " PARTY 37
supplied the need, and that when the special need had been
met the special provision ceased. " Truly," wrote Mr.
Hudson Taylor upon this occasion, " there is a Living God,
and He is the Hearer and Answerer of prayer."
But this was not all. There was to be what Mr. Taylor
dehghted to call God's " exceeding abundantly." In
April he had been asked to give a lecture on China at
Totteridge, a village not far from London, and he had
consented on condition that it should be announced upon
the bills that there was to be No Collection. Mr. Taylor's
reason for this was that he would not have the people who
were present free themselves from a sense of responsibility
by a gift under the impulse of the moment.
The lecture was delivered on May 2, with Mr. Taylor's
host as Chairman. At the close of the meeting the Chairman
urged Mr. Taylor to withdraw his prohibition to a collection,
but without success. Early next morning Mr. Taylor received
at the breakfast table a letter from Messrs. Killick Martin
& Co., shipping agents, offering the whole of the passenger
accommodation of the Lammermuir, and at the close of the
meal he was called by his host into his study. Here his
kind friend, and Chairman of the night before, handed him
a cheque for £500, saying that he had intended giving £5
to the collection, but had been so burdened during the night
that he now felt he could not give less than this larger sum.
The simultaneous offer of the ship's accommodation and
this munificent gift greatly encouraged Mr. Taylor. He
went direct to the ship, found it in every way suitable, and
paid in the cheque on account. Thus was the decision made
and doubly ratified by God.
Those were busy days at Coborn Road. For long there
had been an extensive correspondence with the friends of
the Mission and with many candidates who were offering,
while the testing and supervising of the studies of those who
had come to London taxed the strength of the limited staff.
There had been meetings far and near, preparation of MS.
for the printer, in addition to many hours regularly devoted
to prayer and thought. And now there was all the prepara-
tion of outfits to be hastened on, and all the necessary
38 THE FIRST DECADE
arrangements inseparable from the handing over of the
Home Department to Mr. W. T. Berger.
It was small wonder that Mr. Taylor wrote, five days
before he sailed, in a farewell letter printed in the Occasional
Paper :
The rapid growth of the work has involved a correspondence of such
magnitude, that I have been absolutely unable to keep pace with it.
I cannot but fear that some kind friends may have been pained by the
answers to their letters being delayed; or by my deputing others to
write to them for me. This has been a dernier ressort. Often I have
tried by sitting up till one, two, three, four o'clock, and occasionally by
giving up the whole night to correspondence, to avoid this alternative.
Saturday, May 26, dawned at last, a day which had been
prevented by many prayers, and one which has since been
followed by much thanksgiving. It was a memorable
occasion, for then, unknown to all but a small circle of
friends, and unsupported by any wealthy constituency at
home, what was probably the largest missionary party up
to that date set sail for the practically unopened land of
China. Under the command of Captain Bell, with a crew
of 34 hands, the Lammermiiir set out from the East
India Docks upon her long voyage with her missionary
party numbering 22 in all. The names of those who
sailed are as follows : Mr. and Mrs. Hudson Taylor and
their four children, Mr. and Mrs. Nicol, Messrs. Duncan,
Jackson, Rudland, Sell, and Williamson, Misses Barnes,
Bausum, Blatchley, Bell, Bowyer, Desgraz, Faulding,
J. M'Lean, and Rose. Miss Bell was acting as nurse to Mr.
and Mrs. Taylor's children, and Miss Bausum was going out
to join her mother, Mrs. Lord, at Ningpo.
It is easy now, in the light of subsequent histor}^ to
under-estimate what such a launching forth must have
meant, but to those who sailed it was indeed the following
of Abraham's example, who went out " not knowing whither
he went." To the majority China was altogether an untried
field, and the hfe of faith one of but recent experience ;
while to the leader the responsibility of leadership on such
a scale was also an untried path.
The bond v/hich then bound the party together was one
V! r: I
,23
£ 2 ^
2| t^
P,g5
w
p cr.
Is
So:
■1 1
THE "LAMMERMUIR" PARTY 39
of love and of common trust in God. There were no written
agreements required from the workers going forth, only a
verbal understanding that they would act under Mr. Taylor's
direction ; and between Mr. Taylor and Mr. Berger, who
had been increasingly drawn together, there was a mutual
understanding that Mr. Taylor was responsible as the
Director for all the operations in China, and that Mr. Berger
would assume the position of Director at home. Yet from
the first all things were ordered so as to be above criticism.
The carefully-audited accounts right back to 1864 can still
be seen in the Occasional Papers, and Mr. Taylor himself
as the founder of the work " studiously refrained," to quote
from Mr. Berger's first official letter as Home Director,
" from appropriating any of the funds sent for the Mission
to his own use, or that of his family, or for his own house-
keeping," that he might " cut off occasion from them which
desire an occasion " for criticism.
With the sailing of the Lammermuir party the houses in
Coborn Road had been given up, and Mr. Berger's beautiful
home at East Grinstead became the headquarters for the
time being in England. None the less, however, the regular
Saturday prayer meeting at 4 p.m. was continued in East
London in the home of Mrs. Jones, 4 Montague Terrace,
Bow Road.
The greater part of the voyage was peaceful, while blessing
reigned throughout. Of the crew, three of whom were
Christians when they started, more than twenty professed
conversion during the voyage. The weather was propitious
until they entered the China Sea, but there they encountered
two terrible typhoons which threatened the total destruction
of the vessel. All hands, ladies included, had to assist at
the pumps, and it was only a much battered and dismantled
vessel that was at last towed up the river into Shanghai on
Sunday morning, September 30. The weary travellers
fully recognized how much there was for which to be thankful.
The lives of all had been spared and they had been brought
safely through ; whereas another vessel, which reached
Shanghai soon after they did, had lost sixteen souls out of a
company of twenty-two.
40 THE FIRST DECADE
And yet there was much to try them, for the arrival of
such a party, with the intention of venturing inland, was
in the eyes of many to violate all precedent and propriety.
The censure and the criticism of an unsympathetic foreign
community had to be faced, and some of the comments in
the Shanghai press even questioned the sanity of such
pioneers. But they were not the first to be willing to be
fools for Christ's sake. What exercised their minds more
than the criticism of men was the practical question of
housing so large a party while preparations were made for
the journey inland, but " when," wTote Mr. Taylor, " were
those who trusted in the Lord ever put to shame ? "
Certainly it was not then, for on the evening of their arrival
they received a kind invitation from Mr. W. Gamble,
missionary-in-charge of the American Presbyterian Mission
Press, who kindly stored their luggage and entertained the
whole party during their stay at Shanghai.
VII
SETTLING INLAND
Although it was on Sunday, September 30, when the
Lammermuir reached Shanghai, it was not until the following
morning that the party landed. Mr. Taylor lost no time
in preparing for the journey inland, for the same evening
he left for Ningpo by a local steamer, taking with him ]\Iiss
Bausum, who was going to her mother Mrs. Lord, and Miss
Rose, who was to be married to Mr. Meadows. His visit was
a brief one, for by the following Wednesday he was back
again in Shanghai, where many preparations had to be made
for the escort of so large a party to the city of Hangchow,
which was to be their first headquarters.
He had found the few^ workers who were already in the
field successfully settled in tw^o or three new stations, and
he now purposed to seek a new settlement at Hangchow,
the capital ; and at other cities, if prospered by God. The
operations of the Mission were from the first both systematic
and methodical. There was no aimless wandering, as has
sometimes been suggested, but a definite plan was adopted
which sought, not the securing in the shortest of time of
the largest possible number of converts for the Mission, but
rather the evangelization of the whole Empire as speedily
as possible ; it being of secondary importance by whom the
converts should be gathered in. As the Apostle Paul sought
to establish churches in the great strategical centres of the
Roman Empire, so Mr. Taylor recognized the importance of
gaining a footing, if practicable, in the provincial capitals,
though these were the most difficult places in which to found
41
42 THE FIRST DECADE
churches. With the provincial capitals opened, the next
step was to open stations in the chief prefectures, and thus
downwards to the smaller towns and villages. The capitals,
it was recognized, were the key to the smaller cities, since
the subordinate officials were generally guided by their
superiors, and so, though a larger number of converts might
have been gained through work in some country centres,
the slower but more far-sighted policy was adopted in
preference to that which would have brought quick returns.
Without a recognition of this plan of action no just estimate
of the Mission's work can be obtained.
Hangchow, the capital of Chekiang, was, in accordance
with the policy outlined above, selected as the first great
centre to be desired. Three pioneer missionaries had already
opened work within the city, these being the Rev. G. E.
Moule (subsequently Bishop in Mid- China), who settled
there with his family in the autumn of 1865 ; Mr. Green of
the American Presbyterian Mission, who followed shortly
after ; and Mr. Kreyer of the American Baptist Missionary
Union, who arrived shortly before the Lammermuir party.
On October 20, nearly three weeks after reaching Shanghai,
the Lammermuir party started off in houseboats for the city
of Hangchow, their departure being cheered by a hearty
send-off by the Lammermuir crew, who had subscribed a
sum equal to about £30 as a token of their goodwill. The
journey from Shanghai to Hangchow, a distance of nearly
200 miles, can now be accomplished by rail in a few hours,
but in those days the journey by water was necessarily slow
and tedious. Upon this occasion the party were nearly five
weeks upon the way through delays occasioned by efforts
made, though without success, to locate some of the single
brethren at some of the cities passed en route.
" I cannot tell you/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " how it grieves me to leave
these cities without any witness for Christ. Oh ! dear Mr. Berger
it makes one's heart bleed to think of the spiritual needs of this people."
And the physical aspect of the country too was painful
to behold. As a consequence of the rebellion, cities which
had been cities of palaces when Mr. Taylor had left China
SEITLING INLAND 43
in i860, were for the greater part in ruins. Of Kashing
they wrote : " Of all its former glory we could see only the
debris of lordly mansions, once the abode of wealth and
pleasure, now the habitations of desolation and silence."
Hangchow was reached on Friday, November 27, and
the large party were fortunate to enter the city unobserved
in the dusk of the evening. Unexpectedly and providen-
tially they found that Mr. Kreyer, who had gone to Ningpo
to bring his wife back, had left word that his home was at
Mr. Taylor's disposal until his return. This kind offer was
God's solution of no small difficulty, for their large house-
boats had been unable to reach the city, and they had been
obliged to tranship into smaUer vessels, in which residence
would have been impossible. The friends, as mentioned
above, moved in at dusk, and, in answer to much earnest
prayer, Mr. Taylor was successful, by the following Tuesday,
in renting some large, though dilapidated, premises con-
taining some thirty rooms. Those who know the leisurely
way in which business is conducted in China, and the
difficulty of those early days, will readily appreciate how
truly God had undertaken on behalf of His servants.
Early on Wednesday morning, before the city was astir,
the party moved into the new home, untidy and unprepared
as it was, praising God for having thus provided for their
need before Mr. Kreyer returned the next day.
During the brief stay of the Lammermuir party in
Shanghai, another small band of workers had set sail from
England. These were Mr. and Mrs. J. McCarthy with
three children, and Miss M'Lean. Including these friends,
there were now 28 workers in all connected w^ith the
Mission.
When the year 1866 closed, these workers, with the
exception of the party still upon the sea, were already
settled in four central stations, with one or two promising
out-stations. At Ningpo the work was under the care of
Mr. Meadows. On the incomplete Church Roll ^ there
were 64 members, 4 of whom had been set apart by
the Church for evangelistic work. At Kongpu, a village
1 The records v/ere lost when Mr. Jones removed.
44 THE FIRST DECADE
only four miles away, there was an encouraging out-station
with 14 members, and Mr. Stott settled here for a short
period.
At Fenghwa, a hsien city some thirty miles from Ningpo,
Mr. and Mrs. Crombie with a Chinese evangelist had, with
the help of Mr. Meadows, obtained a settlement. The work
here had been carried on for the greater part of the year,
though the lack of suitable premises hindered progress.
The important prefectural city of Shaohingfu had been
visited in May by Mr. Meadows, who had been successful in
renting a baker's shop, supposed to be haunted. Mr. and
Mrs. J. W. Stevenson removed here in September, where they
were subsequently joined by Messrs. Rudland and Jackson,
who were busily engaged in the study of the language.
Before the close of the year a good many people had begun
to evince an interest in the Gospel, with a willingness to
purchase copies of the Scriptures.
At Hangchow a good beginning had also been made.
Mr. Taylor reported that they had been able to arrange for
a good chapel and a small dispensary out of the premises
obtained. There was also room for a school, and for the
printing presses — ^for the working of which they had been
successful in engaging the services of a Chinese who had
learnt printing at the Mission Press in Shanghai. On
Sundays the workers were encouraged by an apparently
interested audience of from fifty to seventy persons.
It will thus be seen that when the year 1866 closed the
Mission had four central stations in Chekiang. Of these
four stations, three were inland ; the two most remote being
four days' journey apart. Thus, in spite of many difficulties,
the name China Inland Mission was being early justified.
VIII
AN ENLARGED COAST
The last day of 1866 was devoted to waiting upon God,
even until the early hours of the morning, when the New
Year was commenced with the prayer of Jabez :
Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed and enlarge my coast^ and
that Thine hand might be with me and that Thou wouldst keep me
from evih that it may not grieve me !
And God granted them that which they requested, for
ere the year closed more than half the prefectural cities of
Chekiang were to be occupied, one of these being the most
southerly in the province, and an entry was also to be gained
into Nanking, the capital of the neighbouring province of
Kiangsu. But this extension was not to be attained without
riots and suffering, sickness and death. There had, however,
been no reserve in the prayer and there was no shrinking
from trial in the service, and such prayer and unflinching
toil God owned and blessed.
It is well, as we look back upon the remarkable success
which accompanied the labours of a band of workers who
had but recently arrived in the field, to note not only the
progress made, but the spirit in which that progress was
accomplished. Of the physical hardships the workers
thought little, and these were by no means imaginary in
those days :
" There is a deficiency in the wall of my own bedroom six feet by
nine^ closed with a sheet, so that the ventilation is decidedly free,"
wrote Mr. Taylor soon after reaching Hangchow. " But we heed these
things very little, and around us are poor dark heathen. Large cities
45
46 THE FIRST DECADE
without any missionary ; populous towns without any missionary ;
villages without number, all destitute of the means of grace that
surround us ; and I do not envy the feelings of those who would forget
these or leave them for fear of a little external discomfort."
Of course no means were neglected to repair such dilapida-
tions when possible, but in travelling and in gladly accepting
any foothold in new and anti-foreign cities, the workers
looked upon such trials as of small concern. There were
heavier trials than these. Writing to Mr. Berger, just a
year after the sailing of the Lammermuir, Mr. Taylor wrote :
Burdens such as I have never before sustained, responsibilities such
as I had not hitherto incurred, and sorrows compared with which all
my past ones were light, have been part of my experience. ... I have
long felt that our Mission has a baptism to be baptized with. It may
be heavier than we can foresee, but if by grace we are kept faithful, in
the end all will be well.
These words were written shortly after Mr. Sell, one of
the Lammermuir party, had died at Ningpo in consequence
of an attack of small-pox. But ere three months had passed
a sharper sword was to pierce through Mr. Taylor's side, for
in August Mr. and Mrs. Taylor's fondly-beloved child Gracie
was to be taken from them. In the midst of this great
sorrow he v^ote :
I know not how to write to you, nor how to refrain. I seem to be
writing almost from the inner chamber of the King of Kings — surely
this is holy ground. I am striving to write a few lines from the side
of a couch on which my darling little Gracie lies dying. . . . Dear
Brother, our flesh and heart fail, but God is the strength of our heart
and our portion for ever. It was no vain nor unintelligent act, when
knowing the land, its people, and climate, I laid my dear wife and the
darling children with myself on the altar for this service. And He
whom so unworthily, and with much weakness and failure, we are and
have been endeavouring to serve in simplicity and godly sincerity —
and not without some measure of success— has not left us now.
Ebenezer and Jeho7mh-Jireh are still dear words to us.
And in quoting the words of Mr. Taylor we are voicing
the heart's deepest feelings of many others, for countless
graves scattered throughout China to-day — graves of those
who have fallen in the fight, and graves of beloved children
AN ENLARGED COAST 47
who have been laid upon the self-same altar as the parents
— proclaim the fact that the evangelization of China has
called many into the fellowship of suffering with Him who
was the " Man of Sorrows " on our behalf. It was in this
spirit that the task was faced, and those who sowed in tears
were privileged to reap in joy. Let us now briefly relate
some of the labours of the year.
About ten miles distant from Hangchow was situated
the hsien city of Siaoshan. Toward the close of 1866
temporary premises had been rented here and occupied
for three weeks. These had to be relinquished, and another
suitable house was found, for the possession of which, how-
ever, a deposit of sixty dollars was required. The rent
demanded was not unreasonable, and the city was one of
importance, but the state of the funds at tha,t time was such
that the wisdom of even this small outlay was questioned.
While the subject was being prayed over, an unexpected
letter came from Shanghai containing a gift of fifty taels.
" We thanked God," wrote Mr. Taylor, " and took courage."
The story of this gift is full of interest. It appears that
a Singapore Chinese, who had been spiritually helped by
Mr. Gamble (who welcomed the Lammermuir party), and
had been baptized by Mr. Taylor shortly after, had been
much impressed by the way in which these pioneer mission-
aries were adapting themselves to Chinese life and surround-
ings. He spoke of this to a gentleman, who, as a visitor
from Japan, was temporarily residing in Shanghai. This
friend became deeply interested, and wrote saying that he
could not sufficiently admire the self-renunciation of such
noble workers, and that although he could not imitate it,
he could appreciate it. It was, he said, to him a small
matter as to what denomination the missionaries belonged,
and he would be happy to be put down as a subscriber of
fifty or one hundred taels a year, and with his letter he
enclosed an order for fifty taels, equivalent to about sixty-
six dollars.
Encouraged and justified by the receipt of this sum,
the house at Siaoshan was rented on the threshold of the
New Year, and Mr. and Mrs. Nicol with Mr. Williamson
48 THE FIRST DECADE
went into residence. Their work, however, had barely
begun before the mandarin of the city anived, apparently
the worse for liquor, and after handling Mr. Nicol somewhat
roughly, demanded the instant withdrawal of the whole
party from the city. Their passports were produced, and
the official was invited to inspect the premises, but he was
implacable and had their evangelist, Tsiu, mercilessly beaten
before their eyes. The punishment was severe, six hundred
lashes on the bare thighs and fifty on each side of the face.
Much as the missionaries sympathized with their faithful
helper, they dared not interfere between an official and a
Chinese subject, but to prevent further suffering they
promised to leave the city the following day. In a few
months, however, another house was secured, and before
the year closed two or three converts had been baptized.
In Hangchow the work was greatly prospered, though
even here serious trouble threatened in March through
emissaries specially sent by the angered official at Siaoshan,
but an early and firm representation to the Governor by
the three Missions working in the city providentially checked
this in time. All through the year the Mission compound
was a busy centre of work. Whenever Mr. Taylor was
at home the dispensary was opened, and from 80 to
200 patients were seen daily, while an equal number
heard the Gospel preached. For the purpose of a Boarding
School the house next door was mortgaged, and although
the majority of the workers were but new arrivals, remark-
able blessings attended their labours. During the year not
less than twenty new converts were baptized, and in July
Wang Lae-djun was ordained as Pastor with three others as
Deacons. The premises soon proved too small for the grow-
ing work, and ere the year closed Mr. Taylor proposed the
erection of a large chapel to seat from four to five hundred
people.
In September Mr. Williamson attempted to gain a
settlement in the prefectural city of Huchowfu, living mean-
time on a boat. Though Mr. Williamson was compelled,
by sickness, to retire, Mr. M'Carthy took his place, and
premises were rented in November. Here again serious
AN ENLARGED COAST 49
opposition had to be faced which culminated in a riot, when
Mr. McCarthy was roughly handled and his two Chinese
assistants were most severely beaten. This outrage took
place at the very gates of the Yamen and with the knowledge
and assistance of the Yamen underlings. Had not Mr.
McCarthy been a powerful man and able to carry one of his
helpless assistants to the boat, it is probable that this man's
life would have been lost.
In other centres cities were opened with less difficulty
though not without trial. In July Mr. Meadows and
Mr. Jackson had journeyed south to the beautifully situated
prefectural city of Taichowfu. Here, through the kindness
of the Abbot, they were allowed to spend their first night
in one of the city temples, though they were robbed by
burglars in the morning. Fortunately, though they lost
nearly all their possessions, their money was left untouched.
" The things I have lost/' wrote Mr. Jackson, " I could not replace
for Si 00 and Mr. Meadows for $10. Hov/ our dollars were not taken
is a mystery to us all, as my bag stood upon my box, at the side of
the ones taken, and Mr. Meadow's money also was close by. In this
we see the hand of the Lord clearer than in any event of our lives."
In the good providence of God the officials befriended
them and houses were freely offered. Within three months
Mr. Jackson was able to write and say that the people were
flocking by multitudes to the chapel.
Late in the autumn Mr. Stott, after having spent eighteen
months in the neighbourhood of Ningpo, also reached the
city of Taichowfu, whence he and Mr. Jackson proceeded
further south to Wenchow, the most southerly prefectural
city of the province. Here, in this city of temples, untouched
by the Taiping rebels, situated on an arm of the sea and half
surrounded by an amphitheatre of mountains, they settled
in an inn in November. For three months they could gain
no better foothold until at last a house was offered by a man
who had almost ruined himself by opium-smoking and
gambling. From this, however, Mr. Stott would have been
speedily ejected had his weakness not proved his strength.
Being a lame man he presented himself to the crowd, proved
E
50 THE FIRST DECADE
to them that he could not run away, that if they killed him
they would only get into trouble, but if they let him stay
they would find he would do no harm. And it proved, as
he had said in London, when questioned as to the wisdom
of his going to China, that " the lame shall take the prey."
For over two years Mr. Stott remained on alone, neither
seeing the face nor hearing the voice of a fellow-countryman,
and not so much as leaving the city for a single night, until
in February 1870 he went to Shanghai to meet his bride.
While Jackson and Stott had been pressing south to
Taichowfu and Wenchow, George Duncan had been pushing
north and west along the Grand Canal to the famous city of
Soochow, on up to the river port of Chinkiang, and thence
up the Yangtze to Nanking, an ancient metropolis of the
Empire. This city, the capital of the province of Kiangsu,
lately the headquarters of the Taiping rebel Emperor, was
reached on September 18. The authorities, although pro-
fessedly favourable, sent secret orders to every householder
and inn-keeper not to receive the foreigner. The priest in
charge of the Drum Tower, situated in the centre of the city,
however, allowed him to sleep in the temple on top of the
large gate-like structure, and here he passed his nights for
a month or more, going by day to preach in the streets and
obtain his meals at some public eating-house or teashop.
By October 18 he succeeded in renting half a house in
a quiet part of the city. These premises consisted of one
large room upstairs and one below, and Mr. Duncan's
portion was only a strip six feet wide partitioned off from
these rooms. Thankful to gain this advantage, he used the
upper section for his bedroom and the lower section for a
street chapel. As time passed the question of supplies
became one of much importance. Mr. Duncan had given
Mr. Taylor the name of a local bank to which, he was in-
formed, money could be sent, but this bank was not recog-
nized in Hangchow, | and every attempt to forward funds
proved fruitless. Duncan, however, was not the man to
retire, and he held on until all his money had been spent.
Then his faithful servant, finding he would not borrow, gave
him all he had in his possession, amounting to about five
AN ENLARGED COAST 51
dollars. In spite of every economy this was spent and
relief had not arrived, and then his colporteur gave him ten
dollars.
Meanwhile Mr. Taylor had begun to be really concerned
as to Duncan's position, and at last despatched Mr. Rudland
with a supply of money. When Rudland reached Nanking,
having been specially favoured in a quick journey of over
300 miles, he found Duncan well and happy, though the
last of these ten dollars had been changed and he had not
enough money left to provide for the next day. Encouraged
by this token of God's care, Duncan laboured on in Nanking
until his return to England. ^
From this brief sketch we have seen how the policy of
seeking openings, first in capitals and then in the prefectural
cities, had been followed throughout the first whole year
since the Lammermuir party arrived, and how remarkably
successful the workers had been. Writing home in September,
Mr. Taylor had tabulated the situation in Chekiang as
follows :
Hangchowfu j ^^ occupy with other missionaries.
Ningpo j
Shaohingfu \
Taichowfu v We are alone in.
Huchowfu J
Kashingfu
Yenchowfu
Chuchowfu V As yet unoccupied.
Chiichowfu
Wenchowfu
Kinhwafu has a Mission station but no resident missionary.
Thus of the eleven Fu cities and of the eleven departments of
which they are the capitals^ nearly one-half — five — are still destitute of
the Gospel. I hope, if spared, ere long to see some of them supphed.
1 When the writer of these hnes recently visited Nanking and stood
upon the summit of that Drum Tower, where Duncan had first found a
resting-place, how changed the situation had become. From that tower
could be seen several well-equipped Mission compounds, a Union Hospital,
Union Mission University, a Union Bible School, and other centres of
aggressive missionary activity. It is well to-day to look back and to
remember those who as brave pioneers laid the foundations of present
success.
D^
THE FIRST DECADE
These words were wTitten in September, and we have
already seen that since that date Wenchow had been
occupied, as well as Nanking in the neighbouring province
of Kiangsu. This is a wonderful record for one year. When
1S67 closed, instead of four stations, the Mission had eight
stations, the two most remote being twenty-four days'
journey apart. There were also new workers on their way
from home, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Card well and
Mr. and Mrs. Judd, including whom the Mission now had a
membership of thirty-four. The prayer of Jabez, with
which the year had opened, had indeed been heard, for the
Mission had been blessed, had been kept from e\dl though
not from trial, and had been given an enlarged border.
IX
THE YANGCHOW RIOT
With the year 1868 the Mission entered upon a new period
in its history, a period which was to see its headquarters
moved from Chekiang to Kiangsu, and a period in which
there was to be great suffering and an undesirable notoriety.
In the prox-ince of Chekiang, as we have seen, the work
had taken a firm hold. From Hangchow during 1868 a
Church membership of about sixty persons was reported,
most of whom were trophies of redeeming grace since that
station had been opened. At Shaohingfu Mr. Stevenson,
whose home was on a busy street, had become weU kno\Mi,
and during this new year the first ten converts were baptized.
Blessing had also rested upon the work at Ningpo, though
the ^^ithdrawal of the more experienced Christians to help
elsewhere told against local progress. During the early
days of the year the city of Ninghaihsien was opened by
Mr. Crombie, which city, however, was worked as one
district \vith Fenghwa, each station being worked as the
central station in tirrn. Premises were also rented in
Kinhwafu, another prefectirre, but had to be relinquished
because of opposition. At Taicho^^'fu and Wenchow we
have also seen the pioneers established, so that the time
seemed opportune for an advance northward into the
province of Kiangsu.
WTien Mr. Duncan had entered Nanking in September
1867, there were no other missionaries in the province, ^rith
the exception of at Shanghai. Shortly afterwards a young
Prussian, Mr. Schmidt, an ex-officer in General Gordon's
53
54 THE FIRST DECADE
army, who had been converted through Mr. Meadows'
ministry, had adopted the Chinese dress and with his wife
had commenced missionary work in the large and needy
city of Soochow, which city Mr. Duncan had urged the
Mission to occupy. In March 1868 Mr. Meadows, accom-
panied by Mr. Cordon, also succeeded in renting commodious
premises there, including a building capable of seating from
100 to 150 persons for a chapel. A school was opened in
June, and Mr. and Mrs. Cordon carried on a successful work,
until in 1872 failing health compelled the workers to retire.
Though we are somewhat anticipating events, it may here
be mentioned that by that time it had become evident that
Soochow would be efficiently worked by other Societies, so
that station was relinquished in favour of more distant and
needy places.
On April 10, shortly after Mr. Meadows had secured the
premises in Soochow, Mrs. Hudson Taylor with her family.
Miss Blatchiey, Miss M'Lean, and Mrs. Cordon left Hangchow
for this new centre, Mr. Taylor, who was ill, following a few-
days later. After a stay of nearly a month at this station,
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and family with Miss Blatchiey, leaving
the other workers at Soochow, started forward for the
River Yangtze. On the eve of starting Mr. Tajdor wrote :
We are leaving this place (Soochow), D.V., to-morrow (May 17)
for Nanking, calling at several places on our way. ... I trust there
will be no difficulty in our friends remaining in Soochow. The people
seem friendly and so far the authorities have taken no notice of us,
though fully aware of our presence. . . . Difhculties we must expect,
and shall ever meet with, but if on the whole we make progress, and
if souls are being brought to Christ, this is what we came for.
How serious those difhculties and perplexities were soon
to become was mercifully veiled from him then.
Towards the end of the month Chinkiang was reached,
and Mr. Taylor was immediately impressed with the im-
portance of the place as a centre for future developments ;
for Chinkiang is situated on the south bank of the Yangtze,
just where the southern and northern sections of the Grand
Canal enter that great central waterway of China. There
were then no missionaries there, though the London
THE YANGCHOW RIOT 55
Missionary Society had a small chapel in charge of a Chinese
helper in the western suburbs, and Mr. Taylor began to
enquire for premises. Without delaying long enough to
obtain a settlement, however, he proceeded to Yangchow,
a city of some 360,000 inhabitants, located about fifteen
miles up the northern branch of the Canal. This famous
city, where Marco Polo had once held office as Mandarin,
was reached on June i, and after a delay of a week in boats
which let in the rain, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and party moved
into a comfortable inn inside the city.
With his family settled thus temporarily, Mr. Taylor
appears to have returned to Chinkiang, where he at length
found a house inside the West Gate, which the owners
promised to let if a proclamation could be procured from
the magistrate. This Mr. Taylor agreed to obtain, expect-
ing no difficulty, as the Taotai had given one the previous
year to be hung in the L.M.S. chapel already referred to.
The deeds of rental were signed on June 24, after nearly a
month's negotiations, and possession was promised in about
a fortnight. Mr. Taylor at once sent word to Hangchow for
Mr. and Mrs. Rudiand to leave that city and come, bringing
the printing presses and Chinese printers, and settle at
Chinkiang. The Assistant British Consul kindly applied
for the proclamation, and the Taotai promised the same.
The Hsien magistrate, however, a man who had been
removed from Shanghai, on account of his anti-foreign
conduct, at the instance of Sir Rutherford Alcock, the
British Minister, determined to resist, and the success of
this official in worsting the foreigner and his Consul soon
became the talk of all the local teashops.
Meanwhile at Yangchow Mr. Taylor had been more
successful.
" After a tedious battle with difficulties^ the narration of which
within reasonable limits is impossible; and after fruitless negotiations
for perhaps thirty different houses^ we succeeded/' wrote Mr. Taylor,
" in renting one on the 17th July, the Prefect having given us a pro-
clamation ; and some of my family moved into the house on the 20th."
Mr. and Mrs. Rudiand with Miss Desgraz, as advised, left
Hangchow only to find that a settlement at Chinkiang was
56 THE FIRST DECADE
not as easy as had been expected. They therefore pro-
ceeded to Yangchow and joined the friends there. For the
first fortnight after setthng in the curiosity of the people,
though troublesome, caused no serious anxiety, but when
the news of the rebuff given by the official at Chinkiang — a
rebuff not only to Mr. Taylor but to the Assistant Consul, who
had been promised the proclamation, — reached Yangchow,
the idea of ejecting the foreign visitors from their city also
readily suggested itself to the scholars. At this juncture
Messrs. Duncan and Reid crossed over from Nanking to
visit Mr. Taylor, the former of these being on his way to
Shanghai to be married. Finding that trouble threatened,
there being then a mob of from lOO to 200 people gathered
about the doors, and that Mr. Taylor, who had only just
recovered from a serious illness, was physically unequal to
sitting from morning to night at the door of the Mission
premises talking to the people, Mr. Duncan, who was a man
of great courage and a fluent speaker of Mandarin, decided
to remain and give such assistance as was possible.^
When the riot broke out the following members of the
1 In regard to riots in China the long-standing enmity of the literati
of China to all tilings foreign must be remembered as well as the fact that
the Chinese people were at that period " in the point of superstition very
much where we were in the sixteenth century." Should the literati stir
up the passions of the people by playing upon their superstitious fears,
few officials had the moral courage as well as the ability to keep the peace
for long, for their tenure of office was largely dependent upon the goodwill
of the scholarly class.
Du Halde teUs of a book dated as early as 1624 which circulated the
base and foolish charges of the foreigners kidnapping children, extracting
their eyes, heart, and liver, etc., for medicine, and the Roman Catholic
practice of extreme unction, and the habit of closing the eyes of the dead,
may have given some basis for part of such a belief. In 1862 a book
entitled Death-blow to Corrupt Doctrine — a book republished at the time
of the Tientsin massacre in 1870 — brought forward similar charges. In
1866 Mr. S. R. Grundy, the Times correspondent in China, called attention
to a proclamation extensively circulated in Hunan and the adjacent
provinces. Clause VII. of this Proclamation read : " When a (Chinese)
member of their religion (Roman Catholic) is on his death-bed, several
of his co-religionists come and exclude his relatives while they offer prayers
for his salvation. The fact is, while the breath is still in his body they
scoop out his eyes and cut out his heart ; which they use in their country
in the manufacture of false silver."
In the riots of 1891 similar charges coupled with others of a more
blasphemous nature were placarded throughout China, which were subse-
quently traced to a scholar resident in Changsha, the capital of Hunan.
THE YANGCHOW RIOT 57
Mission were in Yangchow : Mr. and Mrs. Taylor with four
children, Miss Blatchley, Miss Desgraz, Mr. and Mrs. Rudland,
and Messrs. Duncan and Reid. About a fortnight before
the storm burst a meeting of the literati was held in the city,
and ere long anonymous handbills were posted up through-
out the city containing many absurd and foul charges.
These handbills were followed by large posters calling the
foreigners " Brigands of the religion of Jesus," and stating
that they scooped out the eyes of the dying and opened
foundling hospitals in order that they might eat the children.
A still more vile and irritating placard was freely posted up
on Sunday, August i6. The Prefect had already been
warned of the impending trouble, but only gave an evasive
answer. All possible conciliatory measures were adopted
by the missionaries, handbills were circulated promising the
opening of the premises for inspection as soon as the work-
men had repaired the unfinished walls and removed the
scaffolding which would be dangerous to a crowd.
On Saturday, August 22, two foreigners came over from
Chinkiang to spend a few hours sight-seeing in the city,
and almost immediately the city was full of the wildest
rumours as to the disappearance of twenty-four children.
By 4 P.M. the Mission premises were besieged. Messengers
were despatched to the Prefect, but with no effect. The
evil passions of the crowd were speedily being let loose, and
at last, when the attack upon the premises had become
general, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Duncan determined to face the
mob and try and make their way personally to the
Yamen.
The limits of this volume will not allow space for the
harrowing and pathetic story of that night and succeeding
day to be told in any detail : how Mr. Taylor and Mr.
Duncan, after having been badly stoned, reached the Yamen
in an exhausted condition to find the terrified gatekeepers
closing the gates ; how the doors gave way before the
pressure of the mob when the missionaries rushed into the
judgment hall crying Kiu mingf Kiu mingf ("Save hfe !
Save Hfe ! "), a cry to which any official is bound to attend
at any hour, day or night ; how they were kept waiting
58 THE FIRST DECADE
in an agony of suspense for three-quarters of an hour before
they saw the Prefect, and then only to be provokingly asked,
" What do you really do with the babies ? " ; how this inter-
view was followed by another agonizing delay of two hours
before they learned that help had been sent, though even
then they were told on their way back that all the foreigners
left in the house had been killed.
Nor can we relate the details of the painful and truly
awful experiences of those left in the Mission house : how
they feared that the two who had faced the mob had been
torn to pieces ; how when the house was fired from below
the children and ladies had to be lowered from the upper
story, and Mrs. Taylor and Miss Blatchley with their escape
cut off had to jump, both to be seriously injured ; and of
how Mr. Reid was nearly blinded for life by being struck in
the eye with a brick when trying to break Mrs. Taylor's
fall.
That any of the party escaped to tell the tale was little
less than a miracle, especially as on the following day the
guard, sent all too late, was withdrawn, and the terrible
scenes of fury were enacted over again. Yet in the provi-
dence of God the whole party, several of whom were severely
wounded and weak from the loss of blood, were enabled on
Monday, the anniversary of little Gracie Taylor's death, to
journey down to Chinkiang, where they v/ere most kindly
treated and cared for.
On their way down to Chinkiang they passed the Assistant
British Consul and the American Consul on their way up,
coming to the rescue. The Consular Authorities proceeded
to investigate the situation personally, and reported their
findings direct to Mr. W. H. Medhurst, the British Consul
at Shanghai, who had full jurisdiction at that time over that
district. Mr, Medhurst made prompt demands for repara-
tion. Proceeding with an escort to Yangchow he demanded
that the Prefect should accompany him to Nanking that
the case might be judged before the Viceroy. The Prefect
begged to be allowed to go in his own boat and not as a
prisoner, and this was agreed to upon his furnishing his written
promise not to escape. This he readily gave, yet fled under
THE YANGCHOW RIOT 59
cover of darkness. Thereupon Mr. Medhurst proceeded to
Nanking with the gunboat Rinaldo as escort. In the course of
the negotiations, which promised to terminate satisfactorily,
the captain of the gunboat took ill and left for Shanghai.
With the withdrawal of the gunboat the aspect of affairs
immediately changed, and Mr. Medhurst had to depart
diplomatically worsted. This failure led Sir Rutherford
Alcock to authorize Consul Medhurst to renew his demands,
this time backed by a naval squadron. The Viceroy Tseng
Kwo-fan speedily came to terms, and appointed two deputies
to proceed to Yangchow and hold an enquiry. A pro-
clamation was thereupon issued which secured the rein-
statement of the Mission, compensation for damages to
property, and moral status in the eyes of the people by
stating that " British subjects possess the right to enter
the land," and that " Local Authorities everywhere are to
extend due protection."
When the news of the riot and naval demonstration
reached England, there appeared such an anti-missionary
article in the Times as to-day would be almost impossible,
and Missions were attacked and defended in Parliament.^
As this was the first serious riot in the Mission's history,
and the one for which it was most severely criticized, it may
not be out of place to enter a little more fully into details
than will be possible with other riots.
In the first place it should be said that the Mission did
1 " The attack on the Mission, however, was rather the occasion than
the cause of his action. There had been many violations of the treaties
and much interference with British trade ; and the EngUsh Government
had been on the look-out for a convenient opportunity of making a
demonstration. It was in the interest, therefore, more of the merchants
than of the missionaries that a fleet of seven sliips-of-war presently ap-
peared. But of course it suited the anti-missionary public at home to
indulge in the usual tirade about ' the Gospel and the Gunboat ' ; and this
was done with the omission of no element of offensiveness by the Duke
of Somerset in the House of Lords. It v/as in the debate that ensued that
Bishop Magee dehvered, on the spur of the moment, his maiden speech
in that assembly, which at one bound established his fame as one of the
most brilhant debaters of the day. It was a crushing rejoinder to the
Duke, and a masterly vindication of the right of an Enghshman to take
Bibles to China as much as cotton or opium, and of his right under the
treaties to the same protection as the merchant, neither more nor less."
(Dr. Eugene Stock in The History of the Church Missionary Society, vol. ii.
pp. 591-2.)
6o THE FIRST DECADE
not appeal for either compensation or revenge. Mrs. Taylor,
writing to a friend at the time, said :
In the riot we asked the protection of the Chinese Mandarin. . . .
After our lives were safe and we were in shelter^ we asked no restitution,
we desired no revenge. I think I may say with truthfulness that we
took cheerfully the spoihng of our goods. But a resident at Chinkiang,
up to that time a perfect stranger to most of us, and only shghtly
acquainted with my dear husband, wrote stirring accounts to the
Shanghai papers (without our knowledge), and public feeling demanded
that action, prompt and decisive should be taken by our authorities.
And this was taken unsolicited by us.
Perhaps one secret of our matter being taken up so warmly was
that it was looked upon as a climax to a series of provocations which
the English had received from the Chinese, and the representatives of
our Government were, I believe, not sorry to have an opportunity of,
and a good ground for, settling off a number of old counts.
With regard to the refusing or returning restitution money. Would
it be right ? We did not ask for it ; but when it is claimed for us by
those who as our rulers and " God's Ministers " (wittingly or un-
wittingly) espouse our cause, ought we to say, " No, we will not take
it " ? We may have been mistaken, but we have acted on what seemed
to us right principles. Especially have we sought to be kept from
the curse of the man " that trusteth in man, that maketh flesh his
arm." ... As to the harsh judgings of the world, or the more painful
misunderstandings of Christian brethren, I generally feel that the best
plan is to go on with our work, and leave God to vindicate our cause.
I suggest that it would be unwise to print the fact that Mr. Medhurst
and through him Sir Rutherford Alcock took up the matter without
application from us. The new Ministry at home censures those out
here for the policy which the late Ministry enjoined upon them. It
would be ungenerous and ungrateful if we were to render their position
more uncomfortable by throwing all the onus, as it were, upon them.
We have quoted this excellent letter at some length on
a subject of considerable difficulty, as it contains some seed
thoughts from which the policy of the Mission has to a large
extent grown up. The Mission has never made or counten-
anced any demand for compensation for life. It has never
claimed compensation for Mission property, though it has
sometimes accepted this when offered by the Chinese
Government, or been claimed by the British, American, or
Continental Government, as the case might be. In later
years, however, the Mission has generally declined com-
THE YANGCHOW RIOT 6i
pensation for property, as, for instance, after the Boxer crisis,
when it was deemed better, as far as possible, to spare further
expense to the Chinese, who had already suffered severely
during the campaign and by the indemnity for injuries to
other foreigners. The good effects of this course on that
occasion in healing bitterness was very marked.
The spirit in which the Yangchow riot was endured cannot
be better illustrated than by brief extracts from letters
written at the time. Mrs. Taylor, who had suffered so
severely, and at a time when she specially needed care and
protection, wrote as follows :
The faithful and tender love that preserved all our lives and restored
us to each other at that terrible time will^ I trust, inspire us with fresh
confidence in the future. ... I shall count our physical sufferings
light and our mental anxieties, severe though they were, well repaid,
if they may work out for the further opening up of the country to us
for the spread of our Master's Kingdom.
Mr. Taylor, also writing to the friends of the Mission a
little more than a fortnight after the riot, said :
In our efforts to evangelize Huchowfu and Kinhwafu we were
foiled, and now in Yangchow we have met with more serious dangers
and loss than we had hitherto experienced. . . . We are not dis-
appointed ; we are not daunted. We expected to meet with difficulties,
but we counted on God's help and protection ; and so far from being
disheartened, we take courage from the goodness of God to us in our
extreme peril ; and from the very opposition of Satan, are the more
determined to continue the conflict. But we ask and need your
sympathy and prayers, for by God's help alone we stand ; and stand
we most assuredly shall, for He has said " I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee." It is indeed far from improbable that ere the Gospel
can permeate the more remote provinces of China, some of us may be
called upon to seal our testimony with our blood. But we are en-
couraged to hope from God's sustaining grace in our recent trial, that,
in such circumstances, as our day so shall our strength be.
With this confidence in God the future was faced with
a good courage, and on November i8 Mr. Taylor was re-
instated in his house at Yangchow by the British Consul
and the Taotai from Shanghai, who had come up as the
Viceroy's deputy. For some time Yangchow became the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor despite the efforts of some
62 THE FIRST DECADE
high-placed officials to eject them. The Governor of
Chinkiang, however, personally purchased the Mission
premises from the anti-foreign landlord — a high military
official named Li — and this removed one source of possible
trouble. The subsequent history of the men who had been
responsible for this terrible riot is full of solemn significance.
Some of them lost their lives, while others fell into serious
disgrace, until the people of the city recognized the retributive
visitation of Heaven in these judgments. "God can yet say to
a people," wrote Mr. Taylor, '"Touch not mine anointed, and
do my prophets no harm,' and not infrequently He does so."
Mr. Berger, in an explanatory letter to the Times, April 14,
1869, wrote as follows :
I would add that the missionaries are again at Yangchow and in
their former house ; and I hope that by kind action they may yet
disarm prejudice, gain the esteem of the well-disposed and silence the
foolish ; and that the day is not far distant when, through God's
blessing, they shall in this very place of their trials, succeed in dis-
seminating the knowledge of Him who is the Light of the World and
the Life of men.
Though it does not belong to this period of our history
we cannot refrain, ere we close this chapter, from calling
attention to the way in which this hope was realized, and to
the wonderful contrast of the events of 1868 and 191 2.
Here in this city, the scene of the riot described. General
Hsii Pao-san, the Commander of the 2nd Army Corps, after
the revolution, gave the hitherto unheard-of opportunity of
distributing Christian literature among the troops, deputed
his younger brother, the Military Governor of the city, to
arrange for the regular preaching of the Gospel to his
officers and men, and when the Rev. A. R. Saunders, who
had been the leader in this work, subsequently left for
furlough, he ordered all the members of his Staff, with a
Guard of Honour of 5000 infantry and their officers, to
accompany the missionary and his wife to the banks of the
Grand Canal, where they embarked for home. The suffer-
ings of the noble pioneers, who, with the exception of the
children, had by 1912 all passed to their reward, had not
been in vain in the Lord.
X
TWO NEW PROVINCES
We have already seen that during the year 1868 four new
stations had been opened. These were Ninghai in Chekiang,
and Soochow, Chinkiang, and Yangchow in Kiangsu. The
strategic importance of these places may not at first sight be
obvious to every reader, so it may be said that with Chin-
kiang on the Yangtze, some fifty miles east of Nanking, and
with Soochow on the Grand Canal, half-way between
Chinkiang and Hangchow, there was now a complete chain
of stations linking up the capital of Kiangsu, on the great
central waterway of China, with Wenchow, the most southerly
prefecture in the province of Chekiang.
With the opening of Yangchow the Mission had struck
out in a new direction, for that city was situated on the
northern section of the Grand Canal, which in those days,
before the sea-route had become popular, was the highroad
from the south to Peking and the northern provinces. After
the riot related in the previous chapter, and while the Consular
negotiations in regard to this trouble were still proceeding,
Mr. Taylor, accompanied by Mr. Williamson, made a long
journey north of Yangchow as far as Tsingkiangpu, which
is located about thjee miles south of the spot where the Grand
Canal crosses the old bed of the Yellow River. With the
spirit of the pioneer, Mr. Taylor, reluctant to await in-
actively a settlement of the Yangchow troubles, visited
during this journey no fewer than four walled cities and
twenty-five towns and villages. While, on the one hand,
his spirit longed and his heart yearned for the conversion
63
64 THE FIRST DECADE
of the people he saw around him, his eyes were ever looking
upon the needs of the whole Empire, and in Tsingkiangpu
he thought he saw a position of importance for reaching the
regions beyond. This important commercial centre might,
he thought, become a half-way station to Kaifeng, the
capital of Honan, one of the unoccupied provinces, and
also a centre through which funds might possibly be trans-
mitted to the provinces of Shensi, Shansi, Shantung, and
Chihli.
Obviously unable to stay, as his presence was necessary
for the reoccupation of Yangchow, Mr. Taylor and Mr.
Wilhamson returned, but in the next year Mr. Duncan
set out from Nanking, and succeeded on July 20, 1869, in
renting premises in Tsingkiangpu, the possession of which
was peacefully effected. Towards the end of December
of the same year Mr. Reid moved there with his valued
Chinese assistant, Chu Sien-seng.
Soon after the settlement of the Yangchow troubles the
time seemed ripe for an attempt to occupy the province of
Anhwei, which province had suffered severely during the
Taiping rebellion, some thirty of its thirty-nine millions being
said to have perished. Extensive emigration, however, had
by the close of 1868 considerably increased its population
and after many prayers, an effort was made to enter this
unoccupied province. As Mr. McCarthy was now able to
carry on the work at Ningpo, Mr. Meadows, who had had
from six to seven years' experience in China, was set free
from that station for the new venture into Anhwei. During
the closing days of the year 1868 he in company with
Mr. Wilhamson started from Chinkiang for Anking. Such
a pioneer undertaking was no light matter, for there was a
spirit of serious unrest abroad throughout the country. In
addition to the Yangchow riot, there ha^ been anti-foreign
outbreaks at Swatow, in Formosa, in Shantung, and in
Chekiang, while an agent of the British and Foreign Bible
Society, Mr. Johnson, had been murdered near the borders
of the very province these workers were now hoping to
enter.
The city of Anking was reached early in the New Year,
TWO NEW PROVINCES 65
1869, and after spending a week, while living on their boat,
vainly seeking for a house, they left their Chinese helpers
to continue the search for premises, while they travelled
on to Kiukiang, the nearest river port, to make arrangements
for the forwarding of letters and supplies. After a brief
stay at Kiukiang, where they found two missionaries of the
American Methodist Episcopal Mission, the only Protestant
messengers of the Cross in the province of Kiangsi, they
returned to Anking and rejoined their Chinese helpers, being
compelled for some time to live in an inn. Many weary
negotiations followed, during which their patience was sorely
tried by varied forms of opposition, but eventually a house
was secured in a central part of the city, a little of£ one
of the busy streets, though considerable alterations and
additions were necessary before occupation was possible.
Meantime, Mrs. Meadows with the children had joined her
husband in the inn, and here they resided until, during the
summer, they were able to move into the new premises.
Much caution had to be exercised in those days to avoid
suspicion. No public meetings were held, and all the work
done was of a personal and private nature. Matters pro-
gressed favourably until the public examinations, which
commenced towards the end of September. The district
examinations, which came first, passed off without trouble,
but during the prefectural examinations there were from
fifteen to twenty thousand students congi'egated in the city.
On November 2, the crowds began to assemble round the
house, and the following day placards appeared containing
the old story of nameless barbarities. Without delay Mr.
Meadows and Mr. Williamson called upon the Taotai to
acquaint him with the situation, but he only made excuses
for not seeing them. When retiring from the Yamen they
were attacked by a mob of military candidates and literary
students, and were obliged to beat a hasty retreat back into
the judgment hall. Meanwhile, the Mission premises had
been attacked and looted, and Mrs. Meadows, who was
alone with her children, had been somewhat roughly handled.
A faithful servant, however, had stood by her, and he, after
first leading her son to the Yamen, returned and personally
66 THE FIRST DECADE
escorted Mrs. Meadows, who was carrying her infant, there
also. With the destruction of the premises there seemed no
other course for the workers but to retire to Chinkiang,
where new Mission premises had been occupied on January i
of the same year. During their absence the Viceroy of
Nanking dealt efficiently \vith this disturbance, and on
February 23, 1870, the workers were formally reinstated by
the officials. Thus was Anhwei, the first wholly unoccupied
province, entered by the Mission, and for the next fifteen
years the C.I.M. was the only Protestant Society at v/ork
in this province.
During the same year, 1869, the Mission was also privileged
to enter another province, namely, Kiangsi. Mr. J. E.
Car dwell, for seven years before leaving England, had had
the needs of this province laid upon his heart. When he
arrived in China, however, he was located in the city of
Taichowfu, in Chekiang, where his health speedily failed.
Though strongly advised to return to England, he felt he
could not do so without attempting something for the
province for which he had prayed so long. He therefore
proceeded to Kiukiang, which river port he reached in
December 1869. Here his health rapidly recovered, and
after a time devoted to the necessary study of the language
he gave himself to extensive itinerations throughout the
province, upwards of a hundred cities and towns being
visited, and fifteen thousand portions of the Scriptures
being sold within the next two years.
In addition to the entry into these two new provinces,
Mr. Stevenson was enabled to extend his work as far
as Chenghsien, a city 72 miles S.E. of Shaohingfu.
Mr. Jackson had also opened up Hwangyen, a city
situated some 20 miles south of Taichowfu. At the
close of the year, the most remote stations of the Mission
were five or six weeks' journey apart from each other, and
the aggregate area of the district in which the mission-
aries were resident, and through which they were preparing
to evangelize by itinerations, was between 150,000 and
200,000 square miles. Such developments were not in-
considerable, though the year was, Mr. Taylor said, more
TWO NEW PROVINCES 67
characterized by internal growth and development than
by fresh aggressive movements.
In closing this chapter it may be added that Messrs.
Harvey and C. T. Fishe had left England in the good ship
Lammermuir on July 14, 1869, while Miss Grace Ciggie (Mrs.
Stott) sailed on December 4 of the same year, she being the
last member of the Mission to go out in a sailing-ship.
XI
TROUBLED ON EVERY SIDE
Up to the year 1870, the work had been steadily enlarging
and extending, in spite of local disturbances. During the
New Year, however, the Mission and the missionaries were
called upon to pass through a time of deep sorrow and trial
both personal and general. Deep and widespread excite-
ment shook the very foundations of Chinese society, and
those who were living among the people at this time con-
fessed that,
..." it was impossible to describe the alarm and consternation of the
Chinese when at first they believed that native magicians were be-
witching them ; nor their indignation and anger when they were told
that these insidious foes were the agents of the foreigners." The
Chinese Government also " were puzzled to comprehend the interest
which the French Government took in the Missions, and its claim,
asserted with so much warmth, to exercise a protectorate over the
converts." ^
It was alleged that dishonest Chinese kidnapped children
for sale to the Roman Catholic Foundling Hospitals, and in
May serious trouble in Nanking was only averted by a
public inspection of the Roman Catholic buildings arranged
by the Viceroy. In June similar rumours gained credence
at Tientsin, and before measures could be adopted to allay
the popular excitement, the mob arose, and
. . . destroyed the French Missionary buildings, and murdered ten
Sisters of Mercy, the French Consul and several other Frenchmen,
besides a party of Russians supposed to be French. . . . The news
1 Cambridge Modern History, vol. xi. p. 813.
68
TROUBLED ON EVERY SIDE 69
(of this atrocity) reached Europe six days after the declaration of war
between France and Prussia, and the events which followed rendered
it impossible for the French Government to insist on adequate
reparation.^
In the eyes of the Chinese the humiliation of France was
looked upon as Heaven's incontestable proof that the charges
made against the Roman Catholics were true, and this fact
immeasurably added to the difficulty of all missionary
operations.
Owing to the disturbed state of the country, all ladies
and children had to be removed from the stations at Nanking
and Yangchow. At Nanking even the Viceroy was assas-
sinated, and Mr. Taylor arranged for a boat to be in readiness
should the workers need at any time to mthdraw. At
Shanghai the foreign residents, with ships of war and some
five hundred volunteers to protect them, scarcely slept
comfortably for fear of an attack. Yet in the mercy and
loving kindness of God, all the missionaries in the interior
were preserved from injury, though far from human help.
What was it, then, that restrained the forces of disorder in
these inland stations ?
" The mighty hand of God/' wrote Mr. Taylor^ " in answer to
united constant prayer offered in the all-prevaiHng Name of Jesus.
And the same power kept us satisfied with Jesus, with His presence,
His love, His providences,"
Though it is true that Mr. and Mrs. Meadows had tempo-
rarily to retire from Anking, no station had to be given up,
but, on the contrary, five new out-stations were added, and
the Chinese Christians were taught in a new way to lean upon
the living God alone.
Amid all these outward perils and alarms, the workers
were passing through the deepest waters of affliction. Early
in the year it became evident that all of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor's
children, with the exception of the youngest, could not face
another summer, and arrangements were made for their
early return to England with Miss Blatchley, as Mrs. Taylor
could not be persuaded to leave her husband. On February
4, however, ere their departure, one of the children, little
^ Cambridge Modern History, vol. xi. p. 813.
70 THE FIRST DECADE
Samuel, suddenly sickened and died, and the following
month, on March 23, the stricken parents parted with the
other three, never again to meet as a united family. Mr. and
Mrs. Taylor returned to Chinkiang, after seeing their loved
ones. sail, to find Mrs. Judd at the point of death. After
many anxious days and weary nights of watching, this hfe
was spared. In June Mr. and Mrs. Rudland were bereaved
of a dear child, and a brief note written by Mrs. Taylor to
Mrs. Rudland upon this occasion — one of the last penned
by her to whom the Mission owed so much — may be quoted
here both as a revelation of her character and as a comfort
possibly to many others who have suffered, or may suffer,
a like sorrow.
July 15, 1870.
My dear Mary — I cannot write much ; but I send a line to tell
you that our hearts grieve and our eyes weep with you. May you be
able to realise your precious little one as safely nestling in Jesu's own
arms, for that more than anything will help to assuage the bitterness
of the painful separation.
" Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." They
will yet be restored to us ; they will be ours again — ours for ever.
And then we shall be able to understand why they were separated from
us here ; then, shall we be able to say from the very depths of our
hearts, " Our Jesus has done all things well." Meanwhile, let us
believe this. By His grace we will not doubt either His wisdom or
His love. Let us chng to Him when His waves and His billows go over
us. Accept much love and sympathy from us to you both, and
believe me — Yours very affectionately, Maria J. Taylor.
On the night of July 5, Mrs. Taylor herself was seized
with cholera, on the 7th, she gave birth to a son, whom she
named Noel. On the 20th, this precious little one breathed
his last, and three days later Mrs. Taylor also slept in Jesus.
Mr. Taylor, who had been greatly blessed in soul some months
before, was wonderfully upheld in this time of deep affliction.
Concerning this time of sorrow he wrote :
I scarcely knew whether she or I was the more blessed, so real, so
constant, so satisfying was His presence, so deep my delight in the
consciousness that His Will was being done, and that that Will, which
was utterly crushing me, was good, was wise, was best.
For some months after this Mr. Taylor was seriously
TROUBLED ON EVERY SIDE 71
prostrated through physical weakness and exhaustion, and
on December i, 1870, he sent out a printed circular letter to
all members of the Mission stating that,
. . . Mr. C. T.Fishe has kindly consented to act, D. v., as Secretary to
the Mission (in China) for the present, so as to lighten the labour which
has hitherto devolved upon me, and which has now increased through
the departure of my beloved wife.
So seriously was Mr. Taylor's health impaired that he was
uncertain whether his own life would be spared, and in some
of his letters written during the spring of the following year,
he gave instructions in regard to his children's future, should
he be taken from them. Mrs. Crombie's health also gave
way, and Mr. Duncan was laid low with inflammation of the
lungs, which for a time threatened to be fatal.
" Thus/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " wave after wave of trial rolled over
us ; but at the end of the year some of us were constrained to confess
that we had learned more of the loving kindness of the Lord than in
any previous year of our Hves."
This year, so memorable for its trials and alarms, was not
wholly without some visible signs of progress. Mr. Stevenson,
who had transferred the care of Siaoshan to Mr. McCarthy,
was enabled to open the station at Sinchanghsien, a city
situated some fifty miles south of Shaohingfu. Wang Lae-
djun, the Chinese pastor of Hangchow, at his own expense
opened a chapel at Lihdzo near Ningpo. Mr. McCarthy's
colporteurs and evangelists commenced work in several
new centres, one of these being the district city of Lanchi,
about 136 miles S.W. of Hangchow. Mr. Williamson, who
had been transferred to Chekiang, was appointed pastor of
Fenghwa upon Mr. and Mrs. Crombie's leaving for furlough,
and he opened an out-station in the district of Ong-zih, while
the church at Ong-zih opened another at Dzao-tseng, three
miles farther west.
Nor must we overlook the various evangelical tours made
during this year. After the trouble in Nanking had some-
what subsided, Mr. Harvey made a tour north of the river,
visiting the city of Luho and a number of towns and hamlets.
Mr. McCarthy safely prosecuted a journey through the
72 THE FIRST DECADE
district N.E. of Hangchow ; Mr. E. Fishe, in company
with Wang Lae-djun, set out from Taichowfu and visited
Sienkii ; while Mr. Rudland, who in August had volunteered
to take charge of the work in Taichowfu — ^in which city he
continued to labour till his death in 1912 — undertook a
journey southward as far as Taiping.
XII
FAINT YET PURSUING
Though the storms of 1870 had in large measure spent
themselves, the year 1871, upon the brief review of which
we now enter, had sufficient trials of its own. The anxiety
and unrest which followed the Tientsin massacre had not
wholly passed away in China ; and the Franco-Prussian
war had unfavourable effects upon the income of the Mission
at home. When to these anxieties were added the precarious
state of Mr. Taylor's health, the faihng strength of Mr.
Berger, and threatened restrictions to missionary liberty,
it will be recognized that the Mission was indeed much cast
upon God.
A year before the Tientsin massacre, the Chinese Govern-
ment had proposed regulations for the control of Missions,
and for the placing of missionaries under Chinese jurisdiction.
Early in 1871 they again returned to this subject and sub-
mitted definite proposals. In the Circular of the Chinese
Government, which dealt with this subject, there were eight
Articles.
Article No. i suggested the abolition of orphanages, which would
have injuriously affected the Mission's boarding-schools, though, at
that time, Protestant Missions had no orphanages.
Article 2 read : " Women ought no longer to enter the Churches ;
nor should Sisters of Charity live in China to teach rehgion." Though
Protestant Missions had no Sisters of Charity, this clause would in all
probability have prohibited women missionaries in general.
Article 3 prohibited missionaries taking the advantage of extra-
territoriahty.
Article 7 demanded that '' when the missionaries visit a great
73
74 THE FIRST DECADE
Mandarin, they must observe the same ceremonies as those exacted
from the literates." These ceremonies would often include kneeling
on both knees, prostration on the ground, and knocking the forehead
on the floor.
The nature of this document showed that it was
obviously aimed at Roman Catholic Missions, but it in-
evitably hampered and endangered Protestant Missions
also. Ultimately, to quote Sir Ernest Satow,
. . . the Protestant Powers replied that the abuses complained of did
not concern them ; while the French Government rejected the whole
of the proposals as inadmissible.^
It was naturally an anxious time for the Mission while
these official negotiations were proceeding. On the one
hand, the staff of workers was barely able to hold the
stations already opened ; and on the other, these proposals
threatened to make the missionaries' position practically
untenable. The very growth and expansion of the work
was taxing to the utmost the limited number of workers,
for as all the stations north of Hangchow were compara-
tively new, there were no Chinese Christians of long standing
who could be relied upon as leaders ; and none could be
transferred as helpers from Chekiang on account of the
difference of language. For this cause the work at Tsing-
kiangpu suffered not a little, as Mr. Reid had had to leave
on account of health. At Yangchow there was a narrow
escape from another riot, stirred up by a military mandarin,
named Ch'un, who had been the leader in the Tientsin
massacre as well as in the previous Yangchow riot. This
man, in conjunction with another high ofiicial named Li,
who was landlord of the Mission premises, did his best to
foment another outbreak. In this, in God's providence,
they were unsuccessful, for, as already mentioned, the
Governor of Chinkiang personally purchased the property
to remove any ground of complaint, and the people of
Yangchow had themselves become more friendly. This
change in the attitude of the inhabitants of Yangchow
1 Cambridge Modern History, vol. xi. p. 814.
FAINT YET PURSUING 75
showed how much their esteem and confidence had been
gained since 1868.
The Yangchow troubles, however, were not wholly at an
end, for later in the year Mr. Berger received a despatch
from Lord Granville, urging the Mission to abandon the city.
In reply a full statement was sent to him, stating the arrange-
ments made for the carrying on of the work in that centre.
This was evidently considered satisfactory, for nothing
further was heard on the subject.
About this time the prospective return of Mr. and Mrs.
Meadows to England for furlough, and other circumstances,
made necessary the rearrangement of all the work in the
northern Stations. Mr. Duncan undertook to devote his
time between Nanking and Anking, so that the needy
province of Anhwei might not be wholly deprived of a Gospel
messenger. Mr. C. T. Fishe agreed to reside at Yangchow
and to superintend Tsingkiangpu from that centre ; while
Mr. and Mrs. Judd took charge of the work at Chinkiang.
The story of the Girls' School, commenced this year at
this last-mentioned place, deserves special mention. During
the troublous times of 1870, it had been necessary for the
lady workers to retire from the more exposed positions to
Chinkiang. And the missionary proposals of the Chinese
Government, already mentioned, urged the removal of lady
workers from China altogether. For these and other
reasons Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had thought it well to try the
effect of a separate work for women conducted exclusively
by women, and Chinkiang seemed a favourable spot for such
an experiment.
As this subject had been one of the last about which Mr.
and Mrs. Taylor had consulted and prayed together, it was
naturally a sacred project.
" At this juncture/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " my precious wife was
removed and I was left alone. I was no longer able to unite with her
in prayer, as for the last twelve and a half years I had done, and to
plead the promise that whatsoever two should agree to ask on earth
should be done for them of our Father who is in Heaven. I felt the
privation much ; and had to ask Him who was comforting me with
His own sweet presence, who often said to me, — ' My presence shall
76 THE FIRST DECADE
go with thee^ and I will give thee rest ' — ^to be my Partner in prayer
too as well as my High Priestly Intercessor. And I felt that my faith
needed strengthenings and therefore asked God to give me funds to
build suitable premises ; carefully avoiding all mention of my desire
either to my home correspondents, or for the time being, to my fellow-
workers in China, that the response might be the more manifestly His."
It was not long after this ere Mr. Taylor received from a
relative of his own a gift of £ioo for his private use, this
being the largest private gift he had up to that time received.
He at once commenced to look out for a suitable site, and
in due course land was purchased in a good position not far
from the river, and facing the hills. The deeds were duly
signed and registered. Then came another gift of £ioo from
another friend, also for his private use, and the building was
proceeded with. By means of these two gifts mentioned
and a number of smaller contributions, which came in as
they had never done before and which only ceased when
there was sufficient, the buildings were erected, and before
Mr. Taylor left China in the autumn, he had the joy of seeing
Miss Desgraz and Miss Bowyer comfortably settled in and
their work fairly commenced.
By this time, as we have seen, Mr. Cardwell in Kiangsi
felt sufficiently advanced in the language to attempt some
extensive journeys. In May he started from Kiukiang by
boat, travelling across the Lake selling books and preaching
at such centres as Takutang, Nankangfu, and proceeding
on to the capital, thence to Fuchow, and back home via
Jaochow. During this journey, which occupied thirty
days, he visited five walled cities, six towns, and fourteen
villages, and sold some two or three thousand Scriptures
and other books. Though stoned at some places he was
mercifully protected from harm.
In north Kiangsu, Mr. Harvey made two long journeys,
the first to and around Tsingkiangpu, and the second almost
to the borders of the province of Shantung, in order to find,
if possible, at Mr. Taylor's request, some place suitable for a
seaside resort. The locality, however, was found unsuitable
for this purpose. Mr. Duncan, either alone or accompanied
by Mr. Harvey, itinerated in Anhwei, both north and south
FAINT YET PURSUING 77
of the Yangtze, and together they finally travelled from
Wuhu through the southern portion of the province, visiting
Ningkwofu and Hweichow, and concluding their journey
at Hangchow in Chekiang. Mr. Reid also engaged in
itineration work in the vicinity of the great Lake ; Mr.
McCarthy's helpers worked the country around Hangchow,
and Mr. Jackson from Wenchow. On all these journeys
the Scriptures were extensively scattered and the Gospel
freely preached.
While the work was thus progressing in China the needs
of the work in England made it desirable for Mr. Taylor to
visit the homeland, and soon health made such a change
equally essential. Local claims in China, however, and the
fact that Mr. Taylor was the only medical man in the
Mission, effectually prevented him leaving the field until
August, when, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Meadows and
Miss Faulding, who had been detained in Shanghai through
sickness and other causes, he started once more for England,
which was safely reached on September 26.
Of the problems which confronted him on reaching the
home country once again, we must defer writing until the
next chapter. This brief record of 1871 may, however, be
closed by summarizing Mr. Hudson Taylor's long letter to
the friends of the Mission, addressed from 6 Pyrland Road,
at the close of the year.
In his review of the preceding six or seven years Mr.
Taylor first calls to mind the Mission's journeying mercies.
In all forty-seven persons, including children, had sailed from
England to China by the Cape route ; thirteen had returned
via the Suez Canal, and in these and all the other journeyings
in China there had been no loss of fife or permanent injury to
old or young. In the matter of health, two of the adults
and two of the children, referred to above, had been gathered
Home, as well as several little ones born in China. Bearing
in mind that the work was new and involved a great ex-
penditure of energy and strength, it was felt that here there
was much cause for thanksgiving.
In China not a few of the workers had mastered the
language sufficiently well to preach freely and intelligently.
78 THE FIRST DECADE
and when Mr. Taylor had left the field there had been twenty-
five adults with eighteen children residing in ten different
stations. God had given these workers open doors, there
being thirteen leading stations in which missionaries were or
had been residing, these stations being, roughly speaking, on
an average a hundred English miles apart. In addition to
the foreign workers the Mission had forty -five Chinese
helpers, some of whom were labouring in out-stations a
hundred miles distant from the central station ; and, lastly,
the Lord had not left or failed His servants m any time
of danger, trial, perplexity or bereavement. In brief, all
things necessary, whether spiritual or temporal, had been
supplied.
" Hungry and thirsty/' wrote Mr. Taylor^ " our souls have some-
times almost fainted within us, and weary, oh ! so weary, we have felt.
But when Jesus has spoken to our hearts His invitation — ' If any
man thirst let him com.e unto Me and drink/ — when He has enabled
us to ask Him for and then given us, His ' living water,' — He has made
us so unspeakably happy in His presence, and has given us such rest,
joy and strength in Himself, as no words can express, and as some
of us never expected to realise down here.
The love of Jesus what it is.
None but His loved ones know !
" Did time and space admit of it, we might enlarge on this theme
indefinitely, for who can exhaust it — the love of Jesus ? — who can utter
all His praise ? "
GuoiTP I.
1. W. Thomas Berger. 2. Mrs. Hudson Taylor (nee Dyer). 3. Theodore Howard.
4. James J. Meadows. r>. J. Hudson Taylor. 6. John W. Stevenson.
7. Emily Blatchley. 8. Benjamin Broomhall. 9. Mrs. B. BR00^[HALL.
Biographical details can he ascertained by use of Index, i^. 37?.
Between pp. 78-79.
1. George Stott.
4. William Cooper.
7. W, D. RUDLAND.
Group II.
a. w. douthwaite.
D. E. HosTE.
W. L. Elliston.
3. R. H. A. SCHOFIELD.
6. W. W. Cassels.
9. Charles T. Fishe.
Biographical details can be ascertained hy use of Index, p. 375.
Between pp. 78-79.
XIII
THE HOME DEPARTMENT
When Mr. Taylor reached England, after an absence of five
and a half years in China, he was immediately confronted
with the serious problems of the Home Department. For
a year or two Mr. Berger's health had been failing, but the
crisis in China had prevented Mr. Taylor returning sooner^
and now that he had come, he was himself much needing
rest and refreshment. But the claims of the work had to
be faced, and so we find Mr. Taylor, shortly after his marriage
to Miss Faulding on November 28, writing from 6 Pyrland
Road, as follows :
Many of you are aware that the labours of the home department,
in which Mr. Berger has been so kindly engaged, have been onerous.
While his sympathy with the work is undiminished, his strength is
not equal to the continuous and ever increasing strain. How best to.
afford him relief demands our grave consideration.
This important subject now occupied a large place in
Mr. Taylor's thoughts and prayers, for the issues involved
were by no means small. Mr. Berger had been the nursing
father and Mrs. Berger the nursing mother of the Mission
from its infancy ; in fact their sympathy and help dated
back to the beginning of Mr. Taylor's own career in China.
Mr. and Mrs. Berger had ever acted together, being moved
by an interest fully shared by both. What these beloved
friends did for the work in its early and critical years can
never be adequately told. In their beautiful home at East
Giinstead the missionaries had been welcomed and enter-
tained with a warmth of love and kindness? never to be
79
8o THE FIRST DECADE
forgotten, and while giving unreservedly of their time and
wealth for the furtherance of the work, Mr. Berger had
by his able and devoted administration at home main-
tained and developed the deepest interest of the friends
of the Mission. If any one would know how faithfully
and lovingly this work was done, they must refer to the
Occasional Papers, in which magazine, for a period extend-
ing from May 1866 to March 1872, he had by his model
letters and reports given publicity to the progress of
the work in China. " We could wish," wrote one who
was no mean judge of literary matters, " for no better
memorial of Mr. Berger than those twenty-eight letters
printed just as they are." The following extract from
one dated May 1869, will show the spirit in which this
correspondence and editorial work was conducted :
We are fuller of hope and expectation than ever. In so saving, I
trust I am carrying along with me the friends and supporters of this
Mission ; for if one object is more prominent than another in my mind^
in relation to you^ dear friends, it is so to bring before you, from time
to time, not the Mission in the abstract merely, but every incident of
importance and interest in relation to the missionaries — ^their sorrows
and joys, their encouragements and discouragements — that you may
individually reahze a hving interest in them, and be constrained to
labour in prayer to God for His blessing to rest continually upon them
and their work. Then will you become one with them in sowing the
seed of the kingdom, and in due time share with them the certain
harvest.^
The loss of such a Home Director, who had for so many
years been united in heart and soul with Mr. Taylor — for
his friendship dated back nearly twenty years — was a serious
matter, as well as a personal sorrow. Fortunately, Mr.
Berger was enabled to hold on until Mr. Taylor's health was
somewhat restored, and then, on March 19, 1872, he penned
his last letter as Home Director of the Mission.
1 Dr. Henry Venn, the Secretary of the Church Missionary Society,
said in regard to the preparation of the Annual Report : "I feel it to be
a high privilege, as well as responsibility, thus to stand between the Church
abroad and the Church at home, and bring forward a report of the Lord's
work." His biographer adds : " He often said that he considered the
preparation of an honest and faithful report as one of the most solemn
duties committed to him " {Life of Henry Venn, p. 97).
THE HOME DEPARTMENT 8i
" It is difficult/' he wrote, " to describe the feeHngs with which I
commence this letter : were it compatible with duty I would defer
writing indefinitely ; but this may not be. You will gather from the
notice on the face of this number that the management of the home
department of this Mission is about to pass into other hands. Failing
strength on the part of myself and dear wife, combined with increasing
claims, unmistakably indicate the necessity of this step. My sym-
pathies for the work are as warm as ever ; and we fain hope that our
future efforts on China's behalf, though they should be of a less active
nature, may not prove the less serviceable."
Upon the same day Mr. Taylor wrote for the same issue
of Occasional Papers :
In the first number of the Occasional Papers published on March 12,
1866, I was permitted by Mr. Berger to request that as far as possible
letters and communications should, after April 30, be addressed to him,
he having kindly agreed to carry on the home department of the work
after our leaving England. Nearly six years have since elapsed,
during the whole of which time he has continued to carry on this part
of the work. The labour this service has involved has been very great,
and its value to the Mission beyond estimation. Our fellowship
together has been, too, a source of unmixed and uninterrupted joy ;
and you will judge of the feeling of regret with which we have, in the
past two years, seen unmistakable evidence that the same kind and
measure of co-operation was becoming incompatible with Mr. Berger's
failing health and strength. . . . With the promised assistance of one
or two kind friends, I hope to be able to carry on the home work
myself for a few months, until more permanent arrangements can
be made.
In September Messrs. R. H. Hill and Henry Soltau under-
took the posts of Honorary Secretaries to the Mission, a
Council of Management of the Home Department was
appointed, and a number of gentlemen in different parts of
the country agreed to act as Referees. The names of those
who belonged to this first Home Council were — Messrs.
Theodore Howard, John Challice, William Hall, George
Soltau and Joseph Weatherley ; and among those who agreed
to act as Referees we may perhaps mention Dr. Barnardo,
Robert Chapman, Dr. Grattan Guinness, George Miiller,
Rev. William Pennefather and Lord Radstock.
The Council met for the first time on Friday, October 4,
1872, when, after the meeting had been constituted, the
G
82 THE FIRST DECADE
accounts and affairs of the Home Department were handed
over to the Council and Secretaries. They met again the
following day, and on the following Tuesday, October 8, so
as to learn as fully as possible the mind of Mr. Taylor in
regard to the conduct of the work before he sailed, for on
Wednesday, October 9, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, accompanied
by Miss Turner, bade farewell to their friends at Charing
Cross — leaving behind their four children under the care of
Miss Blatchley — and set forth once again, traveUing by the
French Mail, via Marseilles, for China.
At a time when so many are discussing the subject of the
missionary motive, it may not be inopportune to quote a
few lines from Mr. Taylor's farewell letter, written on board
the M.M. steamship Tigre.
" There is one part of the Home work/' he wrote, ** so momentous
in its bearings as to call for special remark — that relating to the selection
and training of candidates. Suitable men. fitted for and called to the
work, are the great requirements of all missionary operations. There
are many others, but none so indispensable as this."
After some detailed reference to the difficulties which
have to be encountered in the field, he proceeds :
One thing, and one only, will carry men through all, and make and
keep them successful : the love of Christ constraining and sustaining
is the only adequate power. Not our love to Christ ; nor perhaps
even Christ's love to us personally ; rather His love to poor ruined
sinners in us. Many waters will not quench that love, nor the floods
drown it. That love will seek the wandering sheep until they are
found ; and if when found they are but wayward, wandering sheep
still, will yet love and care for them. Oh, beloved friends, pray that
this love may be in us, abiding in us, dwelling richly in us all who are
already in the field, and in those who join us. But this love will not
be put into any one by a journey to China ; if it be not there before,
the change from a more to a less favourable sphere of labour is not
likely to produce or develop it. Our aim, therefore, must be to
ascertain as far as possible whether it exists, and is combined with the
needful grace, ability, perseverance and tact, and is operative here in
England in those who desire to go out to China.
After entering into other details concerning the work,
he again asks prayer for the true missionary spirit :
THE HOME DEPARTMENT 83
" It is comparatively easy," he wrote, " to take a low place when
others are ready to exalt you, or to appreciate the spirit which leads to
it. But when those you feel to be far beneath you — in mind, in
civilization, in almost everything— treat you as all but savages, call
you barbarians, foreign devils, etc., and try to provoke you in many
ways, imputing the vilest and basest of motives to your most self-
denying and persevering efforts for their good ; and when, too, you
know that you only need to take the upper hand, to claim to be and
act as foreigners— to make them too much afraid to express what they
may think or feel, there is a great temptation to do so. None who
have not been placed in these circumstances know how much we need
your prayers and God's help to glorify Him and walk consistently in
Him."
Though conditions may have greatly changed in China
since these words were penned, may we not add that only so
long as such a spirit continues to animate the members of the
Mission, need there be no fear that God's blessing in things
temporal and spiritual will be withheld. To show how God
did bless and supply the financial needs of the work during
the years when Mr. Berger held the ropes at home, the
following extracts from his letters are given.
Writing on February 15, 1868, he said :
Hitherto we have lacked nothing for carrying on this Mission, the
Lord having sent in all needed supplies. To Him and His people we
tender our warmest thanks. The gift of an anonymous donor came
so opportunely, that I notice it for his or her joy, and that of our
readers. On January i, 1868, our funds were getting low, and we
were led to ask God to remember our need. This was at one p.m. ; at
four the same afternoon £100 reached us anonymously, refreshing
and encouraging us — oh ! so deeply. By the 4th, £395 had come
in. " All things are possible to him that believeth."
On August 29 of the same year, he wrote again :
The number of labourers already in the field connected with this
Mission, as you will have seen from the last Paper, No. 13, is now
considerable. The amount required to supply their need, and that
of the home department, will probably not be less than £100 per week,
or £5200 for the current year. And in the event of more labourers
going forth or being added in China, the amount will augment accord-
ingly. The questions naturally arise — Shall I continue sending out
missionaries if in all respects suitable ? Will the needed funds be
supplied ? and. Shall I be overpowering dear Mr. Taylor ? Then
84 THE FIRST DECADE
China's four hundred millions, lying in moral darkness and death,
rise up before me, and seem to cry with a loud voice — " Come over
and help us ! " And I feel I must roll the burden upon Him who
alone is able to bear it. I would now ask you, my dear friends, to
share this responsibility and service with me, by giving yourselves
to prayer, and seeking in every way in your power to make known the
deep need of this poor people, so that labourers may be thrust out into
this vast field, connected with our Mission, or with others, as it may
please our Heavenly Father. Will you also seek from God that wisdom
and grace may be abundantly supplied to those in the field, and to
ourselves at home, so that we all may adorn the doctrine of God our
Saviour in all things. My present mind is to wait quietly upon Him,
believing that He will guide and provide, for it is His work ; and if He
should see fit to send out no more through our instrumentality, we
shall, I trust, be content.
By God's help, I hope never to go into debt, and only to enlarge
the work as He may put it into the hearts of His people to sympathise
and send in the needful suppHes from time to time. Towards the end
of last month, the balance in my hands was reduced to about £97. I
greatly desired to send £300 to Mr. Taylor on the Mission account,
fearing he might be in need ; whereupon we made our prayer unto
God, were kept calm and enabled to believe that He would help us in
due time. On August i, over £220 was sent in ; on the 13th over
£500, and in all from the ist to the 24th, over £950, as though our
Heavenly Father would say to us : " If thou canst believe, all things
are possible to him that believeth." We were not seeking our own,
but His glory ; and hence we were not made ashamed. I mention
these facts that you may joy with us, even as you so lovingly share our
burdens.
Again on May 26, 1869, the third anniversary of the
sailing of the Lammermuir party, he wTote :
Once or twice in the past year, the amount in my hands has been
as low as £20 ; yet, to the praise of God's grace, I may say I have
never required to send money to China without being able to do so,
and even the amount which I desired. Thus tenderly is He teaching
us to put our trust in Him.
The last extract that space will permit is from a letter
dated March 5, 1870. It is as follows :
During part of last year the funds were getting very low, and we
were led to spread the matter again and again before our Heavenly
Father, who made all grace abound towards us, so that in the month
THE HOME DEPARTMENT 85
of January we received fully £1000, consisting of donations, interest,
and proceeds of sale of books. To Him be the praise.
No words need be added to emphasise what the loss of
such a Home Director meant to Mr. Hudson Taylor and to
the Mission.^
1 The story of the Home Department in Great Britain is continued in
Chap. XVIII. p. 116.
XIV
WAXING STRONG IN FAITH
Leaving the Home Department in the charge of the newly
formed London Council and his children in the loving care
of Miss Blatchley, who at No. 6 Pyrland Road also had the
post of nnofhcial Secretary to the Mission, Mr. Taylor set
forth once again, as already mentioned, to China. His
absence from England this time was to be almost exactly
two years, extending from October 9, 1872 to October 14,
1874. In this chapter we purpose, in briefest fashion, to
outline this period when the work was beset on every side
with humanly insurmountable difficulties. Sickness, physi-
cal injury, death, lack of interest at home, and straitness
of funds for long periods together hampered the Mission ;
yet, in face of all, God's servants waxed strong in faith,
entered another province, and planned what seemed im-
possible advance. Let us first take a rapid glance at each
of the more important stations, and then learn something
of the trials and the hopes which exercised the hearts of the
little band of workers on the field.
Starting from the most southerly station in Chekiang,
we find Mr. and Mrs. Stott and Mr. and Mrs. Jackson re-
joicing over a steadily growing Church. Here in Wenchow,
where in the early days Mr. Stott confessed that he was
seldom out of trouble, there was a little company of fourteen
communicants — the nucleus of what was to become one of
the most flourishing Churches in the Mission. Choosing one
Sunday as an example, we find on May 4, 1873, a congrega-
tion of some 300 people Kstening attentively, for over an
86
WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 87
hour, to a preacher who had, but a Uttle while before, been
one of the least promising of scholars.
" I could not describe/' wrote Mr. Stott^ " the thrilling pleasure I
felt as I sat on the platform beside him while he preached. I saw the
picture of a ragged blank-faced boy with straw sandals^ and compared
it with the open, intelligent face beside me , and as I listened to the
tones of his soft, musical, but yet manly voice, setting forth Jesus
Christ and salvation through Him . . . , it was conclusive evidence to
me of the truth and power of God's Word."
Travelling north to the next central station, we find the
work at Taichowfu branching out, until within this period
Mr. Rudland had no fewer than five out-stations to look
after, the most important of which were Hwangyen, Taiping,
and Sienkii. It is easy in telling the story of the work to
forget the workmen who so quietly endured hardship and
anxiety that the work might be accomplished. Let us then,
for a moment, glance into that missionary home at Taichowfu,
andwhat do wesee ? There is sickness there, nothing less than
the dreaded small-pox, and missionary and wife and children
are all stricken together, and no doctor nearer than Mr.
Taylor who was then in Ningpo. Mr. Taylor had only just
returned, travelling through a snowstorm, from sickness
elsewhere, but he sets off at once, taking long stages, to
reach the needy station quicldy. And it is not long after
this ere we find him travelling again, this time for about 500
miles, from Wuchang to Nanking, to attend Miss Bowyer
(Mrs. Bailer), who was down with the same disease. The
mere recital of his journeys, as servant of all and sole
physician to the Mission in these days, would make no
inconsiderable record of labour.
North of Taichowfu we come to Fenghwa and Ninghai,
where Mr. and Mrs. Crombie had resumed their work after
furlough. Six years earher there had been only one or two
converts, but now the workers were rejoiced with a company
of fifty-six communicants.
In the stations of north Chekiang considerable changes
had been made in order that the work in Anhwei should not
be entirely neglected. George Duncan, the noble pioneer
of Kiangsu, the first Protestant missionary to settle in
88 THE FIRST DECADE
Nanking, who had also extensively travelled in Anhwei and
endeavoured to hold the fort at Anking, when Mr. Meadows
went home on furlough, had been compelled to leave China.
His vessel on its homeward journey had passed near Suez
that on which Mr. Taylor was travelling out. Though
Duncan had hoped for a speedy return to China, that was
not to be, for on February 23, 1873, shortly after reaching
England, he was called to his heavenly reward. Harvey
had also gone home to take a medical course, and Reid had
been compelled to retire through ill-health, so that there
was nothing for it but to make a call upon the Chekiang
workers to maintain the Mission's position elsewhere. Apart
from Soochow, into which city other Missions had entered,
the C. I. M. held on, however, to all the centres already occupied,
and even extended its borders, but to do this large responsi-
bilities had to be placed upon the Chinese helpers.
Mr. M'Carthy was then chosen to move to Anking, and
to effect this Mr. Stevenson undertook the charge of Ningpo,
while the Girls' School was transferred from Hangchow to
Shaohingfu with Miss Turner as helper, and the Boys' School
was moved to Chinkiang where new buildings were erected
next to the Girls' School there. Pastor Wang, who was left
in charge at the capital, Hangchow, also undertook the over-
sight of Chiichowfu, Lanchi and Siaoshan. From Anking
Mr. M'Carthy hoped to superintend the work at Hweichow,
Kwangtehchow, Tatung and Wuhu where Chinese helpers,
most of whom had been converted at Anking, were
located.
At Hangchow there had been a most encouraging develop-
ment towards self-supporting work. A Chinese Missionary
Society had been formed, 70,000 cash contributed, and one
of the converts had been selected and sent forth as a specially
supported evangelist for work in some neglected region. The
other Chinese helpers, supported by the Mission, were so
widely scattered, some of them being from three to four
hundred miles apart, that a Monthly News Letter was
adopted for the sake of mutual encouragement and
supervision.
From Kiukiang, the Yangtze port of Kiangsi, Mr. Card-
WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 89
well had continued his journeys throughout the waterways
of the province. He had reached Kiukiang in December
1869, had dedicated his httle Mission houseboat to God in
March 1871, and had through an ever - extending radius
travelled throughout the province. Southward he had gone
as far as Wanan, some 360 miles from his base ; westward
as far as Sinyuhsien ; to the south-east to Fuchow ; and
east along the Kwangsin river and other waterways. In
the year 1872 alone he had visited over 107 cities, towns
and villages, and had sold 283 New Testaments, 150
Old Testaments, 7000 Gospels and Epistles, and an equal
number of other Christian books. How extensive these
journeys were a glance at a map of Kiangsi will show.
And these journeys were not fruitless, for at Kiukiang
there were seventeen candidates for baptism as well as
eight inquirers.
If we summarize the work of 1873 alone, we find that
eleven new stations and out-stations had been occupied in
the four provinces of Chekiang, Kiangsu, Anhwei and
Kiangsi. One of these stations was Shanghai, where Mr.
and Mrs. Edward Fishe took charge, which from this time
forth became the Mission's chief business centre in China.
And we must not forget to report that on September 3
of the same year, Mr. and Mrs. Judd and Miss Bowyer
started from Liverpool, by the American route, on their
return to China, taking with them two new workers
from Dr. Guinness* Training Institute, Messrs. Henry Taylor
and F. W. Bailer.
Mr. Hudson Taylor had much hoped that the year 1873
would have seen work started in a new province, but that
was not to be before the summer of 1874. The renting,
leasing and purchasing of land or buildings, all the tedious
delays of opening the new stations and out-stations, already
referred to, together with the maintaining of the work
elsewhere, had taxed the powers of all the workers to the
uttermost, and not least those of Mr. Taylor himself.
To follow the history of the Mission inteUigently, it is
necessary always to remember that the operations were all
directed in accordance with one general and comprehensive
90
THE FIRST DECADE
plan for the evangelization of the whole of China. If this
is forgotten, the work of the early years will appear too
scattered and superficial, but if these early efforts be
recognized as part of a well-thought-out campaign, the
methods will be more fully appreciated.
In April 1873, Mr. Taylor wrote :
I am aiming at such organization of our forces as will enable us to
do more work with fewer foreign missionaries. I think I may eventu-
ally attain to one superintendent and two assistant foreign missionaries
in a province, with qualified Chinese helpers in each important city,
and colporteurs in less important places. I hope I may be able, ere
the year closes, to commence a college for the more thorough training
of our Chinese helpers.
During the closing months of the year he wrote again :
I feel much drawn out in prayer to ask the Lord to give us soon
50 or 100 additional Chinese evangelists, and as many foreign
brethren to superintend them as He sees needed, to extend the
work into every unoccupied department and county of Chekiang — and
there are fifty of them, and also for men and means to extend our w-ork
into the nine unoccupied provinces.
In January 1874, he wrote :
I am now in the act of arranging for the eventual opening up of the
whole of this province to the Gospel as the Lord gives us men, open
doors, and means. Pray for these three things. This province,
Chekiang, contains thirty miUions of souls. It is divided into :
WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 91
A Hsien is a county ; the hsien city its capital. In this province
they average nearly 400,000 people in the whole Hsien. As the
above shows, 48 are still untouched. . . . Others began to work
this province in 1842 ; we in 1857 ; the C.I.M. in 1866. It shows
that there was work for us to do ; that we have done some, but there
is yet much land to be possessed.
In February 1874 he wrote a long letter to The Christian,
of which the following is an extract :
Oh, do pray for us ! Plead earnestly, mightily and with faith, and
soon we shall see great things. I feel I must, I do lay hold on God's
strength. I am aiming at claiming no less than every city for
Christ. I am asking for 50 or 100 Chinese evangelists for this one
province (Chekiang), and as many foreign helpers as He sees fit to
superintend them. Till the work is fully organized and the mission-
aries can go to the other provinces, I have no doubt that He who
inspires the prayer and gives the fruit will answer it, than I have that
He has answered prayer in the past. I think, too, we should soon
claim the remaining nine provinces for the Lord. As soon as I have
got the work a Httle more forward here I will try to aim at this.
Just now I can only pray, for my pov/ers are limited.^ His, however,
are not so. Let us honour Him with a full trust.
In July of the same year, though sorely tried about funds,
as we shall shortly see, Mr. Taylor wrote again in a private
letter which we think will not be misjudged to-day in the
Hght of history :
No Mission aims at the definite evangelization of China, or even
of a single province. All are helping towards it. . . . My plans are
now so developing that were I able to remain in China, and had I a few
more men of the right stamp, in two or three years we might have,
D.V., missions founded in each province otherwise unoccupied — nine ;
in each prefecture of Anhwei, and in each Hsien of Chekiang, if funds
were adequate. To see the bare possibility of tliis, and to have to
defer it by coming home, is a great trial to me ; on the other hand, to
return may be needful in order to effect it.
These extracts reveal the burden of his prayers, the
visions of his hope, and his plans organized in faith in an
Almighty God. But faith, hope and courage were to be
tested to the uttermost. More than a month before the
^ During this month Mr. Taylor was seriously ill.
92 THE FIRST DECADE
letter from which the last extract is taken had been written,
Mr. Taylor had accompanied Mr. Judd up the Yangtze to
Hankow and Wuchang. Though beset by innumerable
difficulties, he purposed opening a station at Wuchang, the
vice-regal city of Hupeh and Hunan, the latter one of the
unoccupied provinces, with a view to extending eventually
into the nine unevangelized provinces. It was on this
journey, shortly before Hankow was reached, that Mr.
Taylor fell on the steamer on which he was travelling,
injuring his spine so seriously that he was threatened with
the prospects of being a cripple for life. Yet this did not
daunt him. Premises were rented at Wuchang, and Mr.
Judd settled in, though he had to make many wearying
changes ere he secured a satisfactory home.
The Mission now had work in five provinces, and humanly
speaking the time seemed altogether inopportune for any
extension. Apart from the trials of ill-health, lack of
workers, and opposition from the Chinese, the Mission was
passing through one of the severest times of financial trial in
its history. It seemed as though God had brought His
servants down as low as it was possible to be brought, ere He
gave them the joy of going forward, that they might prove
His strength made perfect in weakness.
What then were the liabilities of the Mission and its
income ? There were at this time more than fifty buildings
— houses, chapels and schools — to keep in repair, as well as
rent to pay for forty of them. There were more than loo
workers, Chinese and foreign, ^ and 70 children (missionaries'
children and Chinese scholars) to provide for. There were
all the travelling expenses in China and the expenses of
furlough ; so that the Mission needed not less than £100 a
week if the work was to be vigorously prosecuted. Yet from
January to March of 1874 the Honorary Secretaries in
London were only able to send £400. From another source
£300 was received, but in making up his accounts on
April I, Mr. Taylor found he had only about £5 : los. in
hand.
1 The wives of missionaries are included, but not wives of Chinese
helpers.
WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 93
The story of these days must be read in detail to appre-
ciate the prolonged daily trial, but only a summary can be
attempted here. Knowing that the workers must be sorely
needing funds, Mr. Taylor eagerly awaited the arrival of the
next mail. On April 7, he received it, but to find only
£25 : II : 8, which consisted wholly of special donations.
He knew that £500 would have been instantly absorbed.
There were 170 persons to clothe and feed, and what was
more, the lives of two workers would be endangered if their
furlough were delayed, and the passages for these two and
their husbands would cost £225.
To make a long and deeply instructive story short, the
Honorary Secretaries in London only sent £750 from April
to June, and the same kind friend who had sent £300 during
the first quarter of the year, sent a similar sum again.
Yet in many ways, the details of which cannot be told here,
the needs were supplied. " Suffice it to say," wrote Mr.
Taylor, " that as usual we proved Him faithful, and we
began July with $3 in hand." Let it be remembered that
it was during this time of financial trial that Wuchang was
opened with a view to work farther west, though a special
gift, to which reference will be made later, justified
this, and it was during this period that Mr. Taylor
wrote :
I feel no anxiety, though for a month past I have not had a dollar
in hand for the general purposes of the Mission. The Lord will
provide.
The Mission was truly very poor, except in God. During
these two years Mr. Duncan had died, as already mentioned,
and Mrs. Rudland died shortly after reaching England ; on
October 23, 1874, Miss Blatchley, who had been so much
to the Mission at home, its chief correspondent, and its
editor, had also died on July 25, 1874.^ The Prayer Meeting
in London had almost languished. At times it came as low-
as two persons, ^liss Blatchley, as an invalid upon her couch,
and Miss H. E. Soltau ; sometimes joined by Mr. Harvey,
1 " The Mission would never have been what it is but for her ability,
diligence and faithfulness," wrote Mr. Hudson Taylor.
94 THE FIRST DECADE
who was studying medicine. The lack of interest at home
had been reflected in the funds. The Home Council was
perplexed, but its members all being busy men could do little
to make known the needs of China throughout the country.
Things were at lowest ebb, but Mr. Taylor would not be dis-
couraged. It was true that " the rains descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon " that little
Mission, but " it fell not," for was it not founded upon the
Rock, as Christ had said of those who heard His words and
did them. Writing some tw^o years earlier to the friends of
the Mission, Mr. Taylor had said :
The Chinese Evangelization Society is no more ; many of the
honoured names that were on its Committee are no longer with us ;
many of the liberal donors to its funds have entered into their rest ;
and some of the labourers in the Mission field have also gone to their
reward ; but the work of God in which they were engaged still lives
and grows and prospers^ and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.
With this conviction, in spite of all appearances to the
contrary, Mr. Taylor left China beheving that " these
frequent and increasingly severe trials of faith " were to be
looked upon " merely as trials of faith," and therefore as a
challenge to a larger and a fuller trust in God to do yet greater
things than hitherto. What these greater things were our
next chapter must show, but ere we pass we must pause to
quote a few lines from Dr. Grattan Guinness' tribute to the
memory of Miss Blatchley :
Faithful friend of a feeble but heroic Mission, would that all its
helpers were like-minded with thee ! Would that all those who have
ministered to it of their substance had as constant a memory of its
wants as thine ! The China Inland Mission has no eloquent advocate
of its claims. It has no denomination for its support. It has no
great names on v/hich to rely. It is, therefore, cast the more on God,
and on the faithful love and help of the comparatively few who can
appreciate the simplicity, faith, and devotedness which characterise
its work in the interest of China's millions. . . . Here, around this
newly opened grave, let our interest in this work revive ; and help
Thou, 0 Lord ! Is not Thy Name inscribed upon its banner ? Is not
its song Ebenezer, and its hope Jehovah- Jireh ? Bless, then, this
Mission, and let the little one become a thousand, for Thy glory's sake.
WAXING STRONG IN FAITH
95
MISSIONS IN CHINA
(At the close of the Year 1874.)
I. The Unoccupied Provinces
Province.
Protestant Missionaries
(1874).
Roman Catholic Missionaries
(1866).
Kansu
None
u. >
Shensi
None
}24
Shansi
Honan
Szechwan
None
None
None
25
10
97
9 Bishops.
82 Foreign Priests.
118 Chinese Priests.
1 Yunnan ,
None
18
1 Kweichow
None
17
1 Hunan
None
18 J
Kwangsi .
None
Bracketed with Kwangtung.
Nine Provinces.
No Protestant Worker.
209 Roman Catholic Mission-
aries.
II. Partially Evangelized Provinces
Province.
Kwangtung
Fukien
Chekiang
Kiangsu
Shantung
Chihli
Hupeh
Kiangsi
Anhwei
Protestant Missionaries
(1874).
55
37
38
36
27
41
18
9
I
Nine Provinces.
Roman Catholic Missionaries
(1866).
262 Protestant Mis-
sionaries. Con-
nected with 29
Missions.
25
27
27
55
15
88
35
21
Bracketed with Kiangsu.
21 Bishops.
151 Foreign Priests.
119 Chinese Priests.
291 Roman Cathohc Mission-
aries. Connected with 5
Missions.
THE SECOND DECADE
1875-1885
Chap. 15. The Appeal for the Eighteen.
16. The Door Opened.
17. Unto the Ends of the Earth.
18. Pyrland Road.
19. Pioneers in Women's Work.
20. Blessings in Disguise.
21. A Chinese Pioneer.
22. Healing the Sick.
23. Pioneer Work in Hunan.
24. The Story of the Seventy.
97 H
" Do you ask me what I think of China, looking at it from the gates of
the grave ? Oh, my heart is big to the overflow : it swells, and enlarges,
and expands, and is nigh unto bursting. If I thought anything could
prevent my dying for China, the thought would crush me. Our only
wish is to live for China, and to die in pointing the Chinese
To His redeeming blood, and say
Behold the way to God ! "
Rev. Samuel Dyer.
(Father of the first Mrs. Hudson Taylor, in a letter to his sister written
at the bedside of his dying child.)
XV
THE APPEAL FOR THE EIGHTEEN
The birthday of a Mission is not as easily fixed as that of
an individual, and especially is this the case with the China
Inland Mission. Mr. Taylor sailed for China in 1853 ; his
independent work, after his resignation from the Chinese
Evangelization Society, commenced in 1857 ; Mr. Meadows,
the first of the early workers, sailed in 1862 ; the work was
organized under the name China Inland Mission in 1865 ;
and the sailing of the Lammermuir party, which more fully
inaugurated the Mission, was in 1866. But while the
organized work dates from 1865, the Mission year, for the
first twenty years, with one exception, dated from May 26,
the anniversary of the sailing of the Lammermuir party.
In 1885, however, the Mission year was changed so as to
start with January i. Accurately speaking, therefore, the
early months of 1875 belong to the first decade of the Mission's
history, but as January of that ^^ear, in more ways than one,
ushers in the beginning of a new period, we shall, for the
sake of historical continuity, commence this fresh section
with the New Year.
In December 1873, a lady in England had written to the
Council of the Mission in London :
I bless God in two months I hope to place into the hands of your
Council the management of £800 for the further extension of the
China Inland Mission. Please remember for fresh provinces. ... If
faith is put forth and praise sent up, I am sure the Jehovah of Hosts
will honour it.
99
100 THE SECOND DECADE
It was the receipt of this money coming to Mr. Taylor's
knowledge in China, during the months of financial trial in
1874 already referred to, that encouraged him to go forward,
with Mr. Judd, and open Wuchang as a base for the regions
beyond. During this journey it will be remembered Mr.
Taylor injured his spine, and when he returned to England
towards the close of the yeo-v, he came as one who was faced
with the possibility, if not the probability^ of being a cripple
for hfe.
The story of these days is one of the most striking illustra-
tions of how God*s servants through faith " obtained
promises," and, " out of weakness were made strong."
Mr. Taylor was practically a helpless invalid, compelled to
lie upon his back, and unable even to write his own letters.
For six months we can picture him in his room at 6 Pyrland
Road, gazing at a map of China set up at the foot of his
couch, praying and purposing great things for the land
which God had laid upon his heart. It was during this
period, when he was absolutely dependent upon the help of
friends for the answering of his correspondence, and when
in regard to the needs of China and of the Mission he could, as
he afterwards wrote, " do nothing but rejoice in the Lord
and wait patiently for Him," that he sent forth a remarkable
appeal, especially remarkable when his helpless and crippled
state be remembered.
This Appeal, which was printed in a number of Christian
journals,^ was as follows :
Appeal for Prayer
On Behalf of more than 150 Millions of Chinese
There are nine provinces of China, each as large as a European
kingdom, averaging a population of seventeen or eighteen millions
each, but all destitute of the pure Gospel. About a hundred Roman
Catholic priests from Europe live in them, but not one Protestant
missionary.
Much prayer has been offered on behalf of these nine provinces by
some friends of the China Inland Mission ; and during the past year
1 This is copied from the pages of The Christian for January 21, 1875.
THE APPEAL FOR THE EIGHTEEN loi
nearly £4000 ^ has been contributed on condition that it be used in
these provinces alone. We have some native Christians from these
regions^ who have been converted in our older stations, and who are
most earnestly desiring the evangelization of their native districts.
Our present pressing need is of missionaries to lead the way. Will
each of your Christian readers at once raise his heart to God;, and wait
one minute in earnest prayer that God will raise up this year eighteen
suitable men, to devote themselves to this work. Warm-hearted
young men, who have a good knowledge of business, clerks, or assist-
ants in shops, who have come in contact with the public and learnt
to cover the wants and suit the wishes of purchasers, are well fitted
for this work. They should possess strong faith, devoted piety, and
burning zeal ; be men who will gladly live, labour, suffer, and if need
be, die for Christ's sake.
There are doubtless such in the Churches of the United Kingdom.
May the Lord thrust many of them out. We shall be glad to hear
from such. J. Hudson Taylor.
China Inland Mission,
6 Pyrland Road, N., January 1875.
How inopportune the time and circumstances appeared
for such an appeal ! Mr. Taylor, the leader of the work was
weak and helpless. That was true, but had not the command
been given " to preach the Gospel to every creature " ?
" His commands sometimes appear strange," wrote Mr.
Taylor. " At times it might have been urged that they
were impracticable." But commenting on the words,
" Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it," he added :
We believe that the time has come for doing more fully what He
has commanded us ; and by His grace we intend to do it. Not to
try ; for we see no Scriptural authority for trying. " Try " is a word
constantly in the mouth of unbehevers ... in our experience " to
try " has usually meant " to fail." The word of the Lord in reference
to His commands is not, " Do your best," but " Do it," that is, do
the thing commanded. We are therefore making arrangements for
commencing work in each of these nine provinces ; without haste,
" for he that believeth shall not make haste," but also without un-
necessary delay.
When the Appeal was issued little did God's servants
know how events in China were to be ordered for the opening
1 The greater part of this sum. was from a private legacy left to Mrs.
Hudson Taylor which she devoted to this new work.
102 THE SECOND DECADE
of these unoccupied provinces — events which at first seemed
to close the doors rather than open them. On February
21, 1875, Mr. A. R. Margary, a young Consular officer, was
murdered in Yunnan, when travelling with a special passport
provided by the Tsungli Yamen. For the next eighteen
months China indulged in a series of provoking delays in
offering reparation, until Great Britain and China were on
the verge of war, and Sir Thomas Wade, the British Minister,
withdrew from Peking. But these things did not make Mr.
Taylor waver in his resolution.
" The difficulties/' he wrote^ " are to human strength insuper-
able. ... Is not all Burma in turmoil ? Has not Margary been
murdered at Manwyne ? Do not the latest tidings tell of Chinese
troops massing in Yunnan ? . . . What; again, can our brother
Henry Taylor and his Chinese evangelist do among the twenty-five
millions of Honan ? We care not to answer that question ; we know
what He who dwells in them and walks in them can do there."
And so candidates were encouraged to offer and were
accepted when suitable.
Meanwhile on the field attention was being given to some
of these needy provinces. ^Ir. Henry Taylor, referred to
above, left Wuchang on x\pril 3 in company with Evangehst
Chang and commenced the first missionary journey in
Honan. During this tour, which lasted fifty-six days, he
^dsited a number of cities and towns in the prefectures of
Nanyang and Runing, as well as the prefectural cities them-
selves. In the autumn he again visited the province, reach-
ing Kaifeng, the capital, in December, and Honanfu
a little later. This second journey lasted nearly three
months.
In June of the same year Mr. Judd, with two Chinese
Christians, one named Yao being a converted Hunanese,
entered Hunan. No difficulty was at first experienced in
renting and entering a house in Yochow. But how little
did they realize that long years of opposition would have to
be encountered, and that their pioneering efforts would
need to be repeated as often as the Syrophoenician woman
her entreaties, ere a permanent settlement was gained.
Even then the knowledge of Margary 's murder was used
THE APPEAL FOR THE EIGHTEEN 103
as a pretext by the officials for withholding protection, and
the little party had to withdraw somewhat speedily, after
being roughly handled. Hunan was, however, visited again
later in the year by the Chinese evangelists. Thus without
any reinforcements from home, two of the nine unoccupied
provinces had been entered and work commenced.
Early thought was also given to western China. For
ten years prayer had been offered that God would open the
way into Yunnan through Burma, and it was a similar desire
for the purposes of trade that led to the expedition of the
Indian Government, in connection with which Margary had
been killed. The Mohammedan rebellion, which lasted till
1873, had long kept this door closed, but this rebelHon was
now crushed, and Mr. Taylor therefore decided to open a
station in Bhamo, with the western provinces in view. The
Irrawaddy had been opened as far as Bhamo, and a British
resident stationed there, so Messrs. J. W. Stevenson ^ and
Henry Soltau sailed for Rangoon from Glasgov/ on April 6,
1875, with Bhamo as their objective. Owing to political
difficulties they at first experienced some delay, but in the
autumn, after an interview with the King of Burma in
Mandalay, who gave them a grant of land for Mission
purposes, they settled in Bhamo on October 3, which has
been held ever since as a station of the Mission. The prayer
that this might be a door into western China was not to be
answered in the way expected, yet none the less, the murder
of Margary, in the effort of securing a western entrance into
China, did lead to the opening, not only of the western
provinces, but of inland China generally, as will be related
in the next chapter.
But though inland China was not open, more than
sixty candidates applied in response to the appeal made by
Mr. Taylor. Of these, nine men sailed before the close of the
year, while one other, Mr. Adams, was accepted in Burma.
In the earl}/ m.onths of the following year, 1876, five more
^ When Mr. Stevenson left Shaohingfu for furlough in June 1874
(there being then 42 communicants in his district), Mr. Meadows
took charge temporarily ! Mr. Meadows, however, remained there till
his death in 1914. Forty years at this station, with onh^ one furlough, is
no mean record.
104 THE SECOND DECADE
men followed, so that in less than eighteen months fifteen
men ^ had been accepted, and had gone forward for work
among the nine unoccupied provinces, while six others, who
were already members of the Mission, had volunteered for
the same work. During the same period seven ladies (3
single and 4 wives) had joined the Mission, making thus
a total of twenty-two new workers in all.
1 Henry Soltau, George King, J. Cameron, G. Nicoll, George Clarke,
J. F. Broumton, G. F. Easton, J.J. Turner, C. Budd, S. Adams, E. Pearse,
F. James, George Parker, Horace Randle, and R. J. Landale.
1. George King.
•1. James WiLLiAMfeON.
7. George Clarke.
Group III.
2. George Duncan.
5. Jame.s J. Meadows (in 1862),
8. George F. Easton.
Biographical details can he ascertained hy use of Index, p.
See also Summary of Early Journeys, pp. 114-115.
James Cameron.
Charles H. Judd.
George Parker.
375.
Between i)p. 104-105.
1. J. F. Broumton.
4. Fred. W. Baller.
7. Samuel Clarke.
Geoup IV.
2. Henry Hunt.
5. James McCarthy.
8. J. J. Coulthard.
3. Adam C. Dorward.
6. Edward Pearse.
9. George Nicoll.
Biographical details can be ascertained by use of Index, p. 375.
See also Summary of Early Journeys, pp. 114-115.
Between pp. 104-105.
XVI
THE DOOR OPENED
After the sailing of the new volunteers, mentioned in the
last chapter, Mr. Taylor, with a party of ladies, left England
on September 7, 1876. This date was, as it will be recog-
nized, six days before the signing of the Chef 00 Convention,
and the going forth of such a party at such a time seemxd
almost worse than foolish. All the negotiations of the
British Minister with the Chinese Government had failed,
and so at last Sir Thomas Wade had left Peking, and strong
reinforcements were sent out to strengthen the British Fleet.
" But," wrote Mr. Taylor, " prayer has not failed," and so
feeling impelled of God to go forth once again to strengthen
the hands of the volunteers who had so recently reached
China, he determined, though outward circumstances
appeared adverse, to go forward. Improbable and unwise
as it all appeared to human sight, the time was God's time,
for the Chinese Government saw, when Sir Thomas Wade
withdrew from Peking, that they had gone too far, and
H. E. Li Hung-chang speedily followed the British Minister
to Chef 00, where the Convention was signed on September 13,
1876. Thus it came to pass that though the door was still
closed when Mr. Taylor and party sailed on September 7,
he found, when he once again landed on China's shores that
the fullest freedom had been gained for carrying forward the
work so much desired.
Events had unquestionably been guided by an Omniscient
Leader, for not only were the men on the field, but they had
had time for the study of the language, and were now ready
105
io6 THE SECOND DECADE
for the Forward Movement. No time or conditions could
have been more favourable. The Chefoo Convention
secured that special orders should be sent by the Tsungli
Yamen to all Provincial Governors, instructing them to
issue a Proclamation which should embody at length an
Imperial decree granting full liberty and protection to all
foreigners travelling in inland China, if provided with a
passport. The Convention also agreed that for the following
two years, officers should be sent by the British Minister to
different places in the provinces to see that the proclamation
was posted.^ Thus did He by whom " kings reign and
princes decree justice " set before His servants an open door
into the remotest parts of the Empire. Let us follow them
in some of their long and arduous journeys.
It will be remembered that journeys had been made into
Honan and Hunan, two of the nine unoccupied provinces,
before any of the new reinforcements had reached China.
Messrs. Stevenson and H. Soltau also had settled at Bhamo
in October 1875 as a pied-d-terre for entry into Yunnan. In
the following January they secured a site for building the
necessary premises, and ere these were ready they were
joined by Mr. Adams and by Dr. and Mrs. Harvey, who had
come out to start medical work. In August 1876, before
the signing of the Chefoo Convention, Messrs. F. W. Bailer
and George King set off from Hankow for the province
of Shensi, and reached Hinganfu in September. On this
journey they were only absent for a little over two months,
as their supplies ran short, and they reached Wuchang to
find that the Settlement at Chefoo had been made during
their absence.
Little time was lost after the signing of the Chefoo Con-
vention ere advantage was taken of its facilities. During
the third week of October, a few days before Mr. Taylor
reached Shanghai, three parties set forth for the north and
north-eastern provinces : Messrs. George King and Budd
1 This Convention, signed on September 13, 1876, was not ratified
until May 6, 1886. This delay was occasioned by China's refusal to
exempt opium from the Likin tax. It was not until July 18, 1885, that
China signed the additional articles granting this exemption.
THE DOOR OPENED 107
for Shensi ; Messrs. Easton and George Parker for Kansu,
via Shensi ; and Messrs. Turner and F. James for Shansi,
each worker accompanied by a Chinese helper. A request
for prayer for these brethren, sent home by Mr. McCarthy,
was*pubHshed in The Christian, and supported by a letter
from Lord Radstock :
" It may be/' wrote Lord Radstock, " that the request for prayer
for the twelve preachers of the Gospel, going to Shensi, Shansi, and
Kansu, has scarcely conveyed to the Church of Christ the unspeakable
importance and blessedness of the service undertaken. A glance at
the map will show that a journe}^ of about 800 miles is needed before
Shensi and Shansi can be reached, and that probably iioo miles will
have to be traversed by those going to Kansu. There are, I beheve,
upwards of forty million persons in these provinces. . . . Surely
these servants of God ought to have the most heartfelt sympathy and
constant prayers of the whole Church."
In December 1876 Messrs. Cameron and Nicoll started for
Ichang as a halfway station for work in the province of
Szechwan. On January 2, 1877, Messrs. Judd and Broumton
left for the province of Kweichow, travelhng through Hunan.
In the same month Mr. McCarthy left Chinkiang for his
memorable journey across China into Burma. Two or
three months later Messrs. George Clarke, Edward Fishe
and R. J. Landale followed Messrs. Judd and Broumton
into Kweichow, for work in Kwangsi ; while Mr. Henry
Taylor continued his itinerant journeys in the province of
Hon an.
Thus was full use made of the door which God had un-
questionably opened into all of the unoccupied provinces of
China. Though space will only permit the barest outline,
let us in our next chapter rapidly follow these several parties
of travellers into the various provinces visited.
XVII
UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
The province of Shansi first claims our attention. This
province, which is larger in area than Scotland and Ireland
combined, is now well known to many readers as the centre
of Pastor Hsi's remarkable work, and as the province
where more than 150 missionaries and their children
were put to death in 1900. With this province as their
objective, Messrs. J. J. Turner and F. James set forth
from Chinkiang on October 17, 1876. Travelling up the
river as far as Nanking, they landed at Pukow, now known
as the Yangtze terminus of the railway from Tientsin, and
started their long overland journey through Anhwei and
Honan, across the Yellow River, and up the almost wall-hke
ascent to the uplands of Shansi. This province was entered
on November 15, and during the next few weeks seven walled
cities, including the three prefectural cities of Tsechow,
Pingyangfu, and Puchowfu were visited ; and then shoit-
ness of funds compelled them to return via Honan and the
Han river to Hankow, which they reached on January 8.
During their absence of two and a half months they had
traversed some seventeen hundred miles in peace and safety.
After a rest of about a month, the travellers set forth
once again on February 8, journeying this time up the Han
river with the full intention of remaining permanently, if
possible, in the province of Shansi. When they came to
traverse that province, and neared the capital, Taiyuanfu,
which was reached in April, they discovered a distressing
condition of affairs. For three years there had been no
108
UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH 109
crops, and the wheat of that year had already turned brown.
The sandy soil was dried to powder ; the cities and villages
exhibited many marks of poverty ; the fields were mostly
barren, and the people in a starving condition. Making
Taiyuanfu their centre, the two brethren commenced work
in the surrounding country, but during the year both of
them were stricken down with famine fever, and after a
period of seven months, the condition of Mr. James' health
made a change absolutely necessary. Unable to travel alone,
Mr. Turner escorted him to the coast. Taiyuanfu was left
on November 28, and Wuchang reached on January 22,
1878, just eleven months and nine days since they had
set out.
Little did they know that only tw^o days after they had
left the city of Taiyuanfu for the south. Dr. Timothy Richard
reached the same city from the east, bringing famine relief.
In the following March Mr. Turner returned to the province,
this time accompanied by the Rev. David Hill of the
Wesleyan Missionary Society and the Rev. A. Whiting of
the American Presbyterian Mission, with the sum of between
four and five thousand pounds for the purpose of famine
relief. The ministry of Mr. Whiting was very short, for he
was taken ill with famine fever and died on April 25, within
three weeks of his arrival in the province.
For some time Messrs. Hill and Turner laboured together
in Pingyangfu. At the end of July Mr. Turner joined
Dr. Richard in the capital, but in the autumn when the
latter left, Mr. Turner at Taiyuanfu and David Hill at
Pingyangfu remained the only Protestant missionaries in
the w^hole of the distressed province. Here for the present
we must leave them to follow the movements of workers
in Shensi.
The first journey into Shensi, a province equal in area
to England and Wales, had been made by Messrs. Bailer and
King before the signing of the Chef 00 Convention, as already
recorded. The second journey was commenced in the
autumn of the same year, when Messrs. King, Budd, East on,
and Parker left Hankow on November 8, 1876, in two parties.
no THE SECOND DECADE
From Kingtzekwan the journey was made overland, and
Mr. King wrote :
After very rough journeyings, over roads which I should think
would have broken Mr. Macadam's heart, we arrived at the capital
Sianfu on December 21.
At this city, famous as an ancient capital of China and
as the site of the Nestorian Tablet, the party divided, Messrs.
Easton and Parker going forward into Kansu, and the other
two brethren, sometimes together and sometimes apart,
gave their time to extensive itinerations throughout the
province. These journeys lasted nearly five months, and
Hankow was reached again by the Shensi band on April 4.
But Mr. Budd soon turned his face north again, for in May
we find him wending his way back to Shensi, this time
accompanied only by a Chinese helper. On this journey
the northern city of Yenanfu was reached. The great
famine which was so sorely distressing Shansi, was being
felt in Shensi also, and later on Messrs. Bailer and Markwick
visited the province hoping to render some assistance. But
all famine relief work was absolutely forbidden by the
ofhcials. It was not until 1879 that the first station was
opened in the province. This was in the city of Hanchungfu,
and it was opened by Mr. King, who had gained the favour
of a local official during a former visit to the capital.
Messrs. Easton and Parker, whom we have already seen
as far as Sianfu in company with the Shensi workers, crossed
the border into Kansu on December 29, 1876, and reached
the capital, Lanchowfu, on January 21 of the following year.
After visiting a number of cities they returned to Hankow,
which was reached on April 6, just two days after their two
colleagues had arrived from Shensi -
Kansu, however, was not long left without a witness for
Jesus Christ, for in May Messrs. King and Easton set out
once more for the far north-west. Under the blazing sun of
June, when the hot winds smote them, wrote Mr. King, as
though coming from the engine room of a steamer, they
crossed the Sian Plain, and once again entered the neighbour-
UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH iii
ing province. Finding the people friendly, premises were
secured at Tsinchow, which became the first headquarters
of the Mission in the province.
We must now turn our attention elsewhere and follow
the brethren who travelled into the western provinces. As
the year 1876 was drawing to its close, Messrs. Judd and
Broumton commenced their preparations for a journey
through Hunan into Kweichow. On the second day of the
new year they started on a journey which was to last more
than three months, and was to take them through the cities
of Yochow, Changteh, Shenchow in Hunan, in which cities
they engaged v\^ithout let or hindrance in street preaching
and book selling. They noticed, however, that in no place
in Hunan had the proclamations been put up, stating the
right of foreigners to travel, though by the Chefoo Convention
these should have been posted in every city. In other
provinces the missionaries had found them, and in fact
sometimes the foreigners were welcomed as though they
were officials who had been sent by the British Govern-
ment to see that the proclamations were properly exposed.
On February 3, Messrs. Judd and Broumton crossed the
border into Kweichow, and when the capital was reached
premises were easily secured through the kind assistance of
General Mesny of the Chinese army. As soon as Mr.
Broumton was settled, Mr. Judd started on his return journey,
travelling this time via Chungking, which city was reached
in March, and thence down the Yangtze back to Hankow.
On May 5 of the same year, Messrs. George Clarke,
Edward Fishe, and R. J. Landale left Wuchang to follovN^
the same route, through Hunan into Kweichow, taken by
the preceding party, save that instead of passing through
Tung j en, they travelled via Yiianchow and Chenyuan. On
June 27, when they reached Kweiyang, the capital, they were
warmly welcomed by Mr. Broumton who was, it will be
remembered, alone.
W^hile Mr. Landale remained to keep Mr. Broumton
company, Messrs. George Clarke and Edward Fishe set forth
112 THE SECOND DECADE
on July 5 for the new province of Kwangsi, where they
travelled for six weeks, preaching the Gospel and selling the
Scriptures. Sad to relate, on this journey Mr. Fishe took
cold, and shortly after his return to the capital in September,
died, leaving his widow far away at the coast to mourn her
loss. While Messrs. Landale and Broumton remained on in
the province, Mr. Clarke returned to Hankow, travelling
via Chungking in Szechwan. During this journey, which
lasted six months and two days, Mr. Clarke covered some
three thousand miles, and reported that from the experience
he had gained in some five thousand miles of travel through
nine different provinces, he had found the people most
willing to purchase the Scriptures.
There is now only one of the nine provinces which has
not been mentioned and that is Yunnan. It had been hoped
that the brethren at Bhamo would have been able easily to
cross the border, but in November 1876, when they purposed,
in response to the invitations of the people, to visit the
Kahchens in their mountain villages, they were only per-
mitted to leave Bhamo after having given a written promise
to the effect that they would not cross the frontier. Though
they could stand upon the hills in Burma and look across the
plains of China, which seemed so accessible and near, this
prohibition of the British authorities effectually prevented
them. For long years to come, with perhaps one exception,
Yunnan was only to be reached by a lengthy journey from
Shanghai.
But though Yunnan was not to be entered from the west,
it was open on the east, and in the middle of January 1877,
Mr. McCarthy left Chinkiang for his now famous journey
across China through Yunnan into Burma. Following
the river Yangtze, he reached Chungking on May i, after
having passed through the Ichang riot with Messrs. Cameron
and Nicoll. At Chungking he succeeded in renting premises,
the first Mission premises in Szechwan, where he left such
luggage as he could not well carry overland. From thence
he travelled on foot all the way through Kweichow and
Yunnan, with a Chinese Christian as companion and a
UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH 113
couple of coolies. Bhamo, the terminus of his journey, was
safely reached on August 26. Thus was completed the first
journey across China undertaken by a non-ofhcial traveller.
During the whole of the more than seven months he was
upon the road he was never once asked for his passport,
nor had he at any time to appeal to any officer for help or
protection. " From the people everywhere," he wrote in
the paper read before the Royal Geographical Society in
April 1879, " I received only civility and kindness." The
first difficulty experienced came from the Indian Government,
for no sooner had he reached Bhamo than the British Agent
forbade him to return to China by the way he had come.
Not long after Mr. McCarthy had gone west, Messrs.
Cameron and Nicoll left Ichang and entered Szechwan, to
take possession of the premises rented at Chungking. After
a short stay in this city they were joined by an American
Presbyterian missionary, Mr. Leaman, and set forth together
for the political capital of the province, Chengtu. From this
city, after a brief stay, they proceeded to Yachow and
Tsingkihsien, from which point Mr. Nicoll, v/ho was ill,
accompanied by Mr. Leaman, returned to Chungking,
leaving Mr. Cameron to go forward alone to eastern Tibet.
Crossing the border at Tatsienlu, Mr. Cameron visited Litang,
reported to be the highest city in the world. From thence
he passed on to Batang, a centre of great importance, partly
administered from Peking and partly from Lhasa. Crossing
the Kinsha, or the upper reaches of the Yangtze, he con-
tinued along the borders of Tibet Proper and Assam to the
last Tibetan town, Atuntsu, in Yunnan. Thence via Talifu
he crossed into Burma, where he experienced the same un-
willingness on the part of the Indian Government in regard
to re-entering China. In consequence of this prohibition,
he proceeded south to Rangoon, and thence to Canton, where
he once again turned his face inland, journeying through
Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Kweichow back to Yunnanfu.
Cameron was indeed the Livingstone of China, and during
the next few years, traveUing nearly always on foot, he not
only traversed seventeen of the eighteen provinces, but
I
114 THE SECOND DECADE
journeyed extensively in Manchuria, Mongolia, Sinkiang,
Eastern Tibet, Burma and Hainan.
Thus rapidly have we sought to follow some of those
early pioneers in their journeys through the nine unoccupied
provinces. In a little more than three years from the issue
of the appeal for the eighteen men for these unevangelized
regions, some thirty thousand miles had been travelled in
China, and that when there were no railways and when
twenty or thirty miles were considered a good day's journey.
All these journeys were taken as a means to an end, as
" prehminary to localized work," being " principally valu-
able as a preparatory a.gency," to quote phrases used by Mr.
Taylor in his paper on " Itineration as an Evangelistic
Agency," read before the Shanghai Conference in 1877.
It is true that at the time the wisdom of such widespread
journeys was questioned by some, but they were, as has been
already indicated in regard to the earher journeys, part of
a comprehensive plan, and it is probably sufficient to say
that in the hght of subsequent developments, Wisdom has
in this respect been justified of her children. As early as
the Annual Meeting of 1878, Mr. Taylor was able to report
that not only had all the nine unoccupied provinces been
visited, but that twelve missionaries had already settled in,
or been designated to, four of them. In these previously
unoccupied provinces twelve stations and out-stations had
been opened, twenty Chinese helpers were already at work,
and more than forty converts had been gathered.
SUMMARY OF EARLY JOURNEYS
Men
Burma. Stevenson^ Soltau^ Adams^ and Harvey, to Bhamo.
MTarthy and Cameron, Bhamo to Rangoon.
Kansu. Easton and Parker, first journey to Lanchow.
King and Easton, second journey to Lanchow.
Shensi. Bailer and King, first journe}' to Hinganfu.
King and Budd, second journey to Sianfu.
Budd alone, third journey to Yenanfu.
UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
11 =
Shansi. Turner and James, first journey to Pingyangfu.
Turner and James, second journey to Taiyuanfu.
Turner alone, third journey to Tai}aianfu.
Honan. Henry Taylor, first journey to Runing and Nanyangfu.
Henry Taylor, second journey to Kaifeng and Honanfu.
Henry Taylor and George Clarke, third journey to
Kweitehfu.
Szechwan. McCarthy, through to Burma.
Cameron and NicoU, to Chungking, etc.
Cameron alone, to Burma.
Ilundn and Judd and Broumton, to Kweiyangfu.
Kweichow. Judd alone, back via Szechwan.
E. Fishe, G. Clarke and R. J. Landale to Kweiyang.
Clark alone, back via Szechwan.
Cameron.
Yunnan. McCarthy, through to Burma.
Cameron, through to Burma.
Kwangsi. E. Fishe and G. Clarke, from and to Kweiyang.
Cameron.
Anhwei. Duncan and Harvey, several journeys.
McCarthy, Bailer, and Pearse, several journeys.
King, Cameron, Randle, Clarke, several journeys.
Kiangsu. Duncan and Harvey, to and from Tsingkiangpu, etc.
Harvey alone, Haichow, etc.
And many others.
Chekiang. Duncan and Harvey, Stott, and many others.
Kwangtung. Cameron.
XVIII
PYRLAND ROAD
When Mr. Taylor had issued his appeal for the eighteen
workers for the nine unoccupied provinces, it soon became
evident that further help and enlarged premises for the
Home Department were necessary. Messrs. R. H. Hill and
Henry Soltau, from their appointment in 1872/ had nobly
served the work as Honorary Secretaries, but in April 1875
Mr. Soltau sailed for Burma, as one of the eighteen, in com-
pany with Mr. Stevenson to open Bhamo. In response to
the appeal more than sixty candidates applied, and of these
about thirty came to spend longer or shorter periods of
study at Pyrland Road. To accommodate these No. 4 was
secured in addition to No. 6, and early in the summer Mr.
and Mrs. Benjamin Broomhall came to reside at No. 5,
opposite (moving subsequently into No. 2), to assist in the
work. For the next twenty years — destined to witness such
remarkable expansion in the whole work — the headquarters
of the Mission in Great Britain remained at this centre,
and the name of Pyrland Road thus became inseparably
associated with the C.I.M.
The friendship between Hudson Taylor and Benjamin
Broomhall, his brother-in-law, dated back to when they
were lads in their teens at Bamsley. While this is not the
place for personal details, one or two brief extracts from
letters may be allowed to show how Mr. Broomhall was
drawn into the work. Within a few days of Mr. Taylor's
1 Continued from Chapter XIII. p. 85.
116
PYRLAND ROAD 117
landing in Shanghai, he wrote in a long letter of eight pages,
dated March 12, 1854 :
Oh, my dear brother, give yourself entirely to the work of God.
I trust you will ; I hope you will. We want more helpers, men of
sincere piety, men of earnest zeal, yet men of caution and prudence.
We want men who love God supremely and souls next. We want men
not only willing to do, but also to suffer the will of God ; men of faith,
who can afford to despise the world and look forward to the sur-
passing glory in store. Oh, that you may be such an one ! Oh pray
for me, my dear brother, and come and help me.
On December 16 of the same year he wrote again, adding
at the close of his letter :
When you have done with the letter perhaps you will let my parents
and sisters see it, and thus I shall make one account do for both — an
expedient you yourself will probably adopt before you have been with
me a twelvemonth — for I feel assured you will join me sooner or later.
For long Benjamin Broomhall and Amelia Hudson Taylor,
his future wife, were exercised as to whether it were not
God's will for them to go to China. Had Hudson Taylor's
sister had her way it would have been China, and
" sooner " rather than " later," but God guided otherwise,
and Benjamin Broomhall, who wrote in 1856 : "I give
Hudson credit for moving depths of feeling in my heart which
before I had not been conscious of," was gaining a wide
knowledge both of men and affairs, which was to fit him for
valuable service to the Mission in later days.
When Mr. Henry Soltau sailed for Burma, Mr. Benjamin
Broomhall came, with Mr. William Soltau, to assist Mr.
Richard Hill in the work in London. In the early days of
1879 ^^- Taylor, in view of his approaching departure for
China, went more thoroughly into the organization of the
Home Department, and on February 5, 1879, ^^ quote the
Minutes of the London Council :
Mr. Broomhall was appointed General Secretary, with the distinct
understanding on the part of Mr. Taylor and the Council and himself
that he is considered responsible for the general superintendence and
conduct of the Home work of the Mission.
At the same meeting the question of the Home Director-
ii8 THE SECOND DECADE
ship of the Mission was discussed, and at the next meeting,
held five days later, Mr. Theodore Howard, who had been a
Member of the Council from its commencement in 1872 and
Chairman since October 5, 1875, was asked to accept the
post of Director of the Home work of the Mission.
" Mr. Howard/' to quote the Minutes again, " consented to accept
this position, and was thereupon appointed and authorized by Mr.
Taylor, with the cordial approval of the Council, to act in that capacity
during Mr. Taylor's absence in China, and jointly with him when he is
in England."
It must also be mentioned that it was arranged, in the
event of Mr. Taylor's death, should no other appointment
on the Field have been made, that Mr. Howard should, for
the time being, act as Director of the whole work. In ac-
cepting this position Mr. Howard generously had it recorded
that :
He and the Council generalty wished it to be understood by Mr.
Broomhall that his responsibility was not in any way diminished, nor
the relation of his fellow-workers to himself altered, but that in Mr.
Howard he would have one to whom he could refer in any circumstances
requiring direction.
Passing from these references to the personnel of the
Home Department, it should be recorded that with the
entry upon this new stage in the Mission's development
the official organ of the Mission was also changed. In March
1875 the Occasional Paper, which had been commenced early
in 1866, before the sailing of the Lammermuir party, Vv^as
published for the last time ; and in the following July the
first copy of China's Millions appeared, which, as a monthly
magazine, has been published regularly ever since. In the
following October, at the same Council Meeting as that at
which Mr. Howard was appointed Home Director, Mr. Taylor
read the first draft of a paper entitled The Principles and
Practice of the China Inland Mission, which it was felt desir-
able that all joining the Mission should henceforth cordially
approve. This paper still remains the official statement of
the Mission's Principles and Practice.
It will thus be recognized that with the year 1875 the
PYRLAND ROAD 119
Mission entered upon a new and distinct period of its history
botli at home and abroad. In China the more experimental
stage of work in the nearer provinces passed to that which
was to embrace within its purview the whole of unevangel-
ized China ; while at home the same period was to witness
the transition from the voluntary and honorary stage to that
of a more regularly organized department.
This entry upon a larger ministry, with its enlarged
responsibilities, was not without its special trials of faith,
associated, as trials ever have been, ^vith special encourage-
ments and deliverances. Of these trials and deliverances
references can only be made to one or two.
On the morning of May 24, 1875, during the period of
Mr. Taylor's illness, when the few friends at Pyrland Road
met for prayer, Mr. Taylor remarked that it was necessary to
ask God to remind His wealthy stewards of the need of the
work. Adding up the amounts received from May 4 to 24,
and finding it only come to £68 : 6 : 2, he said : " This is
nearly £235 less than our average expenditure in China for
three v/eeks. Let us remind the Lord of it." They did so,
and that evening the postman brought a letter which con-
tained a cheque for £235 : 7 : 9, which v/as to be acknow-
ledged as " From the sale of Plate." ^ " Dear readers,"
v/rote Mr. Taylor in China s Millions, when reporting this
incident, " ' trust in Him at all times,' you will never have
cause to regret it."
With the year 1878 the whole question of finances had to
be faced in a new way. In the Report for two years, pre-
sented at the Annual Meetings of that year, it was mentioned
that the funds received during the two years under reviev/
did not represent the expenditure of that period, for the
special sum of £4000, mentioned in the Appeal for the
Eighteen, had been absorbed in the pioneer work for which
it had been originally given. These workers, therefore,
now came upon the General Funds ; and moreover, during
these two years twenty-one new workers had joined the
Mission, bringing up the total to seventy-two, while there
^ Vv'e are permitted now to state that this came from the late Lord
Radstock.
120 THE SECOND DECADE
had been a proportionate increase in Chinese helpers and in
new stations. What, then, should be the Mission's attitude
towards the number of candidates who were ready to go
forward ?
" Wel]^ this question/' said Mr Taylor at the same Annual Meeting,
" came again to us anew during the present year. From the Report
which you have heard you have learned that the money which God
sent in answer to prayer for pioneer work in a number of unevangelized
provinces — some thousands of pounds — has been used up and absorbed
in the work of the last two years, and the question might have been
raised, ' With a current income not equal within a thousand or two
thousand pounds to the expenses of the Mission, is the project of
sending forth twenty or thirty additional missionaries at all a prudent
thing, even if men and women who appear to be suitable are found ? '
Well, we have looked the thing in the face, dear friends ; and this is
the conclusion to which we have come, that with the current income
of the Mission we have nothing to do, but with God we have every-
thing to do ; that we are not going to send out twenty or thirty mission-
aries, or one, but we are going to ask God to send twenty or thirty
missionaries ; and if He sends twenty or thirty devoted missionaries,
He is just as able to support them as He has proved faithful and loving
in supplying those who went previously. . . . We feel that if God by
His grace will only keep our brothers and sisters faithful to Him, that
ensures everything,"
Acting upon the principle of faith referred to in the
foregoing passage, new candidates were accepted and sailed
for China, and the Mission was cast more than ever upon God
to supply the constantly recurring wants. On Friday,
February 21, 1879, the Mission was unable to make any
remittance to China, and there were no funds in hand for the
outfits and passages of some of the party expected to sail
from Marseilles on March 9. " Under these circumstances,"
wrote ]\Ir. Taylor in a little article on Tnist in Him at all
times,
it was remembered with thankfulness how frequently — nay, almost
invariably — God has given special tokens of His readiness to help
about the time of a departure of new missionaries ; and at the daily
Prayer Meeting from twelve to one o'clock, with thanksgiving and
praise for past mercies, God was asked again to show Himself gracious,
not only in supplying present and immediate needs, but also in en-
couraging the hearts of His young servants, who were casting them-
PYRLAND ROAD 121
selves upon His faithfulness for life^ for healthy for food, for raiment,
and for all the grace and help needed in His service. . . . With great
joy and rest of heart these petitions were left with Him. On Saturday
morning, February 22, the answering message came by the first post.
One of the letters contained a cheque for £600. Our hearts were
gladdened, our faith was strengthened ; not only in private, but at
our weekly Prayer Meeting thanksgiving and praise were offered to
God ; and hearty prayer went up that He would abundantly bless
the munificent donor and every member of his household. We can
testify from oft-repeated experience that it is blessed indeed to " trust
in Him at all times," and would exhort all His tried ones to " pour
out their hearts before Him, for the living God verily is a refuge for
us
" 1
Home department continued in Chapter XXXIII. p. 220.
XIX
PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK
The difficulties in the way of women's work in China and
the remarkable manner in which these have been overcome
have hardly been sufficiently realized. In the days of Dr.
Morrison the Chinese regulations which controlled Foreign
intercourse rigorously excluded even the wives of merchants
from residence at Canton. Twice in the year 1830 the
Chinese threatened to stop all trade at Canton, in order to
enforce the immediate departure of a few ladies who had
come over on a visit from Macao. With their policy of
exclusion, the Chinese were shrewd enough to see that where
the wives were allowed to come the men became residents
rather than visitors. With the cessation of the East India
Company's charter and the subsequent war, these regula-
tions naturally had to give way, so far as the Ports v/ere
concerned.
The ffi-st single lady to go to the Far East was Miss
Newell (subsequently Mrs. Gutzlaff), who was sent out by
the Society for promoting Female Education in China, India,
and the East in 1827. As China was closed at that tim.e, she
settled at Malacca, where she conducted five Schools for
Girls. The first single lady to enter China Proper was Miss
Aldersey, a member of the Committee of the same Society,
who v/ent out to Malacca at her own charges in 1832, and
reached Hongkong in 1842, on the very day that peace was
signed. Two years later she opened at Ningpo the first
Girls' School in China, in which work she was subsequently
joined by Miss Maria Dyer, who was married to Mr. Hudson
122
Mrs. George Stott.
Miss Crickmay.
Mrs. George King
{nee Snow).
Group V.
2. Mrs. F. W. Baller.
5. Mrs. Hudson Taylor {nee Faulding)
8. Miss E. Wilson.
3. Miss Desgraz.
6. Miss Celia Horne.
9. Mrs. S. Clarke
{nee Faussett).
All the women who first entered tJie nine unoccupied inland jiroviyices are in these Groups.
For Biographical details use Index, p. 375, ccnd Summary of Early Journeys on p. 132.
Betiveen jip. 122-123.
Group VI.
1. Mrs. F. W. Broumtox. 2. Mus. J. J. Meadows. 3. Mrs. G. Parker.
4. Mrs. Henry Hunt. 5. Miss M. Murray. 6. Mrs. G. Nicoll.
7. Miss Kidd. 8. Mrs. George Clarke {nee Rossier). 9. Miss C. Kerr.
All the women who first entered the nine unoccupied inland provinces are in these Groups.
For Biographical details use Index, p. 375, and Summary of Early Journeys on p. 132.
Between pp. 122-123
PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 123
Taylor in January 1858. Miss Lydia Fay of the Protestant
Episcopal Mission, who went out to China in 1850, seems to
have been the hrst single lady sent out from America.
Of necessity the beginnings of women's work in China
were slow. When the Lammermuir party sailed in 1866
there were only fourteen unmarried lady missionaries in
China, and seven of these were located at Hongkong, a
British Crown Colony ; yet in that one party there were six
single lady workers. These ladies, and others who followed
them, settled not only at Hangchow, but, as the preceding
chapters have shown, at other centres inland such as Nanking,
Yangchow and Anking.^ In the face of much criticism and
of many difficulties the C.I.M. was privileged not only to
open many of the earliest stations in the interior of China,
but also to send the first women workers to nine of the inland
provinces. These were Anhwei and all of the nine unoccupied
provinces except Kwangsi.
The call for lady workers to enter the first of these formerly
unoccupied provinces came through the terrible famine of
1877 and 1878, which affected at least thirty millions of
people. When following the pioneer journeys recorded in a
previous chapter, this famine has been mentioned, but its
awful magnitude calls for fuller details now. In 1877 the
autumn crops throughout the whole of Shansi and the
greater part of Chihli, lionan, and Shensi failed. Refugees
poured down to the coast, and one Consular report states
that in one famine camp it was not an uncommon event for
from four hundred to six hundred persons to die in a single
night. The famine-stricken people stripped the bark off the
trees for food, killed their beasts of burden, and in some
cases resorted to cannibalism. So many were the dead that
not infrequently they were buried uncofhned in pits.
Strenuous efforts were made to send supplies to the
interior, birt to the most afflicted areas there were no water-
ways and only the roughest mountain roads. Along these
1 Two unmarried ladies of the American Presbyterian Mission started
work at Sayow, a village about loo miles from Tungchow in Shantung,
in 1870.
124 THE SECOND DECADE
the most frightful disorder reigned. Broken carts, scattered
grain bags, dying men and animals often blocked the way,
and the boldness of the wolves told too plainly some of the
terrors of the story. So far as reliable records are known,
no such appalling calamity has fallen upon any country,
and varying estimates state that from nine to thirteen
million people died.
To alleviate in some small measure the terrible distress,
nearly half a million dollars were contributed from abroad,
either through commercial or missionary channels : Some
thirty Protestant missionaries volunteered for famine relief
work, of whom four died. A number of Roman Catholic
missionaries also assisted. In Shansi Timothy Richard of
the B.M.S., David Hill of the W.M.S., Turner of the C.LM.,
MTlvaine and Whiting, both of the A.P.M., laboured, the
last of whom soon died of famine fever. ^ At first the Chinese
authorities were hostile to the thought of famine relief, but
through the influence of the Grand Secretary, Li Hung-chang,
and H.E. Tseng Kwo-chuan, the Governor of Shansi, this
difficulty v/as overcome locally, though in other provinces
the officials positively refused the assistance actually brought
to them.
In Taiyuanfu Dr. Timothy Richard began to interest
himself in the orphans, and with the Governor's approval
commenced systematic relief work among these children
and the widows. By September 1878 as many as 744 names
were enrolled under the superintendency of Mr. Turner, and
by January 1879 the numbers had risen to 822 orphans and
334 widows and aged persons.
The needs of the destitute children early burdened Mr.
Taylor's heart, and though he had only arrived in England at
the close of December 1877, after an absence from wife and
children of over fifteen months, he contemplated, if possible,
a speedy return to China to organize some special work. As
circumstances, however, prevented this, early in the new
year he proposed to Mrs. Taylor that possibly she might go
1 The Chinese Governor offered a handsome gift towards sending
Mr. Whiting's body home, but when he found the foreigners preferred to
bury their friend locally, he gave a piece of land outside the city of
Taiyuanfu for a foreign cemetery.
PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 125
out for this purpose. Such a suggestion, so soon after they
had been reunited, came as a painful shock at first, and in
some perplexity of mind she determined to seek from God
some " Gideon's fleece " to confirm her in her duty. There
were three things necessary ere she could possibly sail for
China : her outfit, her passage money, and some provision for
her children. She therefore asked God that if it were His
will that she should go. He would send her two separate gifts
of money, one for her outfit, and another sum of £50, neither
more nor less, for her passage expenses, and also that God
w^ould guide to some satisfactory arrangement for the
children. The two gifts for outfit and passage w^ere received
just as asked, but there was the far more important matter
of the children's welfare. Mrs. Broomhall, her sister-in-law,
was at this time away from London, but hearing from her
husband that Mrs. Taylor thought of going out to China to
care for the orphans, she said aloud to her sister, Avith whom
she was staying, " If Jenny is called to go to China, then I
am called to care for her children." Upon returning to
London, she made the offer, although she had ten children
of her own, and remembers to this day the awe with which
she reahzed, when Mrs. Taylor replied, " Then that settles
it," that her decision had such momentous consequences.
The decision thus made was strikingly confirmed by the
arrival of a thousand pounds while the Valedictory Com-
munion Service was being held. In a note accompanying
this handsome donation, the donor wrote :
Please enter it anonymously. It does not represent any super-
abundance of wealth, as my business affairs will miss it. But if you,
for Christ's sake, can separate, I cannot give less than this.
With these tokens of God's favour, on May 2, 1878, Mrs.
Hudson Taylor, with a party of seven new workers, among
whom we may mention Messrs. Dorward and Samuel Clarke,
bade farewell to their loved ones at home.
On reaching China, Mrs. Taylor was joined by Miss
Home and Miss Crickmay, both of whom had been about
two years in the field, and under the able escort of ]\Ir.
Bailer, Taiyuanfu, the capital of Shansi, was reached on
126 THE SECOND DECADE
October 23. This was the first time that missionary ladies
had travelled so far from a Treaty Port. They were soon
followed by two other ladies, by Mrs. James in November
and by Mrs. Timothy Richard shortly afterwards, both of
whom came with their husbands when they were returning
to the province.
No trouble was experienced in renting premises, and a
number of girls were received by the ladies, and Dr. Richard
formed some destitute boys into a school. The work among
these orphans and refugees proved for several reasons more
difficult than had been anticipated, and was subsequently
abandoned for more ordinary methods. But the work with
all its difficulties had not been in vain. The Chinese Ambas-
sador at the Mansion House in London paid a warm tribute to
the charity and tenderness which had been manifested in the
relief given, the influence of which, he said, would be per-
manent and do far more than pohtical action ever could do
to ingratiate the foreigner in the esteem and regard of the
Chinese.
But apart altogether from the immediate results of the
work done, the fact that it had been proved that there was no
insuperable obstacle in the way of lad}^ missionaries residing
in Inland China was in itself a subject of great rejoicing.
" None but those/' wrote Mr. Taylor^ " who know what it is
personally to pray and wait and watch for months, and it may be for
years, for the opening of hearts closed against Christ, or of doors
closed to the Gospel, can fully sympathize with the joy with which
we have announced from time to time the opening of province after
province, first to itineration, and then, in the case of some, to localized
efforts. But if such was our joy when our brethren were able to go
so far inland, what grateful thanks are due to God as we record the
safe arrival of our first party of missionary sisters at the capital of one
of the nine so lately unevangelized provinces."
The neighbouring province of Shensi was the next one to
be entered by lady workers. Early in the summer of 1879
Mr. George King, who had been pioneering in the far north-
west, was married to Miss) Emily Snow, and towards the end
of August the newly married couple commenced their long
journey up the Han river, with Kansu in view. Hanchungfu,
PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 127
a most important prefectural city in Shensi, having many
large and well-populated villages around it, was reached in
November, after a safe and quick journey. As this cit}^
appeared a most inviting centre for work, and a good half-
way station for Tsinchow Kansu, whither they hoped to go
in the spring, Mr. King determined to attempt to rent
premises. The opposition of a Hunan military mandarin
at first threatened to frustrate this project, but when this
official recognized the foreign visitor as one whom he had
met before at Sianfu, his opposition gave place to a friendship
which proved invaluable and helpful.
With Hanchungfu opened, Miss Wilson, a lady in middle
life who at her own charges had joined the Mission four years
previously, and Miss Faussett, on March i, 1880, set out
from Wuchang, accompanied only by two Chinese Christians,
with the intention of holding the fort a,t Hanchungfu, while
Mr. and Mrs. King w^ent forw^ard to Kansu. This journey
of a thousand miles was a particularly courageous under-
taking, and was fully justified by the results, for with no other
contretemps but the carrying off of some of their wearing
apparel by thieves, Hanchungfu was safely reached on
Frida}^ May 21. Mr. and Mrs. King did not go forward as
expected, for a most encouraging work had already begun to
spring up. As early as the last Sunday in August 1880
three Christians were set apart as Deacons, two of these
being the converts from Wuchang who had accompanied the
ladies. Five new members were received on the same
occasion, and by the close of the year the Church m.ember-
ship had risen to thirty. This was certainly rapid progress,
but that it w^as not hasty is proved by the fact that j\Ir.
Easton, writing as late as 1907, after many years' residence
at the same station, said :
Many of these converts are standing to-day and have become our
best Christians ; some of them are the Elders and Deacons of the
Church now.
The two single ladies early ventured out into the surround-
ing towns and villages of this populous region and reported
that "nothing could be kinder than our reception every-
128 THE SECOND DECADE
where." But upon this flourishing station the shadow of u
great sorrow was soon to fall, for in May 1881 Mrs. King
died of typhus fever. Short as had been her ministry, to her
had been given the privilege of being the first foreign woman
to enter Shensi, and the first to lay down her life on behalf of
its evangelization.
Strict chronological order would require that we should
now turn our thoughts to another part of China, but before
doing so we will conclude the story of these north-western
provinces. On May 3, 1880, little more than a fortnight
before the Misses Wilson and Faussett had reached
Hanchungfu, Mr. and Mrs. George Parker left Hankow with
the far north-west in view. Much time was spent upon this
journey in temporary work at several centres, and then,
after a brief stay at Hanchungfu, they set forward once again,
accompanied this time by Miss Wilson. In January 1881
Tsinchow in Kansu was reached, and here the travellers
made their home.
We have thus briefly followed the way in which the three
northern provinces of Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu had been
entered and permanently occupied by lady workers. It was
only in the autumn of 1876 that six young men pioneers had
set out to visit for the first time these then unoccupied
provinces ; yet by the first month of 1881 four stations
had been opened with seventeen resident workers. Each
province now had a resident married missionary, and the
other workers were seven men and four single ladies. In
the schools established there were more than seventy
boarders, apart from day scholars, while from sixty to
seventy converts had professed their faith in Christ,
though all of these had not been baptized.
It is now time to follow the progress of events as they
concern the w^estern provinces, and to do this we must go
back to the autumn of 1879. Not long after Mr. and Mrs.
King had left Hankow for Shensi, two newly married couples,
Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke and Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll, left for
the far west, travelling by boat up the Yangtze Gorges as far
PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 129
as Chungking. This journey, trying to the nerve under the
best conditions, was not free from mishap. As has so
frequently happened, the boat was holed upon a rock, and
the travellers experienced the discomforts of an impromptu
camp life upon the banks of the river in rainy weather and
with soaked goods. Chungking, however, was reached in
January 1880, and here Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll entered upon
settled station life, while Mr. and Mrs. Clarke went forward
overland to Kweiyang. This latter city was reached in
February, after a journey which proved more trying to Mrs.
Clarke than the boat journey, through the carelessness of the
chair-bearers when travelling over the precipitous mountain
roads. Thus for the first time lady workers entered and
settled in the provinces of Szechwan and Kweichow.
Such pioneering work for ladies had trials far greater than
those connected with the discomforts and possible dangers
of travelling. It involved distant separation from the com-
panionship of their own country-women — Mrs. Nicoll, for
instance, never saw a foreign sister for two full years —
and separation from all medical help, however urgent the
need ; there was also close contact with the evils of
heathenism, and frequently the weariness inseparable from
the curiosity of the people among whom they dwelt. At
Chungking, for instance, the Chinese women simply flocked
to see their foreign sister. When the Chinese New Year set
in the Mission premises were fairly besieged, there being as
many as five hundred women visitors in a day. While Messrs.
Nicoll, Riley, and S. Clarke assisted each other in receiving
the men in the front of the house, Mrs. Nicoll single-handed
had to do her part of the hospitality elsewhere. For months
these visitors came by hundreds, until the workers felt it
to be hke living in a continuous fair. Yet this was what
they had gone for, and, though exhausting and trying to
patience, it was in this way that suspicion was to be disarmed
and friendly relationships established, which were necessary
prehminaries to the successful preaching of the Gospel.
Within a few days of Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke reaching
the city of Kweichow, Mrs. William McCarthy and Miss Kidd,
130 THE SECOND DECADE
escorted by Messrs F. W. Bailer and Trench, set out from
Wuchang for the same province, travelling, however, across
Hunan instead of up the Yangtze. In the light of all that
has subsequently happened, this journey of ladies through
Hunan may appear as almost too serious an undertaking,
but in those days all work in the interior was looked upon as
serious. During this journey thirty-three days were spent
in Hunan, when many opportunities were obtained for
telling the Gospel story to some of the Hunanese women.
At some places where the ladies landed — ^for the journey was
by boat — ^they were received with great kindness, and the
women pressed around them in the most friendly manner.
There is little doubt that but for the opposition of the officials,
and chiefly of the literati, such friendly receptions would
have been more general in Hunan and throughout China.
The only trouble experienced on this journey was occasioned
by the boat twice running on the rocks, but none the less
Kweiyang was safety reached on April 27, 1880, and soon
an encouraging work among the women was reported.
In March of the following year ladies again travelled
through Hunan. Upon this occasion the boat was badly
wrecked at one of the rapids, and the whole party, including
the two ladies, Mrs. Broumton and Miss Kerr, had to reside
for a full fortnight on Hunan soil. Concerning this ex-
perience. Miss Kerr, who was a trained nurse and gave some
medical assistance to those who came, wrote :
The women used to come to me early in the morning and late at
night. ... I could go out alone as far as I liked to walk, and be
afraid of nothing. . . . The whole village turned out to see us start,
and I felt like leaving home when I bade the women good-bye.
And yet nearly twenty years were to elapse ere this
province was to be opened for settled work either by men or
women.
With the arrival of these reinforcements for Kweichow,
Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke felt free to turn their thoughts
towards Yunnan, and when God took from them their little
son, they triumphed over their sorrow, and determined to
PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 131
make use of this freedom from home responsibilities and go
forward to the unknown. Their journey was commenced
on May 16, 1881, and after having traversed the greater part
of Yunnan, Tahfu wa.s reached on June 27. Here they
settled, feeling peculiarly cast upon the Lord, since the
difficulties of communication with the coast from that distant
outpost were neither few nor easily overcome. Here Mrs.
Clarke laid dowTi her life som^e two years later, leaving a
little babe six weeks old, far from all medical aid and without
having seen a European sister for more than two years.
Painful and trying as were the experiences of not a few
during these early days, the workers rejoiced to know that
however far they might be from human companionship,
they were as near to the Throne of Christ as they would have
been at home ; yea, nearer, if they were where God had
guided them.
We have now rapidly followed the story of the entry
by women workers, into seven out of the nine unoccupied
provinces. The only remaining one in which the C.I.M.
was privileged to be the pioneer in this work was Honan.
Itinerant work, it will be remembered, had commenced here
in 1875, but Honan was to prove one of the hardest provinces
to settle in, and Kaifeng, its capital, was indeed the last
capital opened to the Gospel, Changsha, the capital of Hunan,
not excepted.
In October 1881 Mr. Henry Hunt, who had been quietly
residing at Runingfu for about a year, was married to Miss
Smalley, and together they returned to Honan. Runingfu
was reached on Christmas Eve, and those who know any-
thing of the curiosity of the Honanese in the early days w411
readily believe that Christmas Day was no holiday to this
young bride. Crowds simply flocked to see the foreign lady,
and patience and strength were taxed to their utmost. The
prospects of a settlement, however, seemed not unhopeful.
Proclamations were put out by the officials stating that the
foreigners were not to be disturbed so long as they made no
attempt to purchase either land or houses ; but disappoint-
ment was not far away, for in the following February, owing
132
THE SECOND DECADE
to the uprising of a secret society called the White Lotus
Sect, these workers were compelled to retire, and more than
two years were to elapse ere a settled station in Honan was
to be obtained.
With this brief residence in Honan we must conclude
our story of the Pioneers in Women's Work, which story
began in the autumn of 1878 and now closes in the early
months of 1882. During this period eight of the nine
formerly unoccupied provinces had been visited by lady
pioneers, and in all of them, with the exception of Hunan
and Honan, a permanent settlement had been obtained and
women's work commenced.
SUMMARY OF EARLY JOURNEYS
Women
Shansi. Mrs. Hudson Taylor, Miss Home, and Miss Crickmay
reach Taiyuanfu, October 23, 1878.
Sliensi. Mr. and Mrs. George King settle at Hanchung, November
1879.
Misses Wilson and Faussett reach Hanchung, May 21, 1880.
Kansu. Mr. and Mrs. George Parker and Miss Wilson settle at
Tsinchow, January 1881.
Szechwan. Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll and Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke reach
Chungking, January 1880.
Kweichow. Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke settle at Kweiyang, Feb. 1880.
Mrs. Wm. M'Carthy and Miss Kidd, escorted by Messrs.
F. W. Bailer and Trench, reach Kweiyang, April 27,
1880.
Hunan. Mrs. Wm. M'Carthy and Miss Kidd travel through Hunan^
March 1880.
Mrs. Broumton (before her second marriage Mrs. Wm.
M'Carthy) and Miss Kerr travel through and reside
for a fortnight in Hunan, March 1881, en route to
Kweichow.
Yunnan. Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke settle at TaUfu, June 27, 1881.
Honan. Mr, and Mrs. Henry Hunt temporarily reside at Runingfu,
October 1881.
Anhwei. Mr. and Mrs. Meadows settle at Anking in 1869.
XX
BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE
On Monday February 24, 1879, Mr. Hudson Taylor, after
having, as already recorded, more fully arranged for the
carrying on of the work at home, left once again the shores
of England for China. On his way to join the French mail,
he held meetings by request at Amsterdam and Marseilles,
the C.I.M. thus becoming known for the first time on the
Continent where in later years so many Associate Missions
were to be formed. Marseilles was left on March 9. The
party consisted of Mr. Taylor, Messrs Pigott, Coulthard,
Hunnex, Henry Hunt, and Mr. and Mrs. Wilham McCarthy.
Shanghai was reached on April 22, but so seriously ill had Mr.
Taylor been on the voyage and after arrival that he was
strongly urged by several physicians, if he would not return
home again, to see what Chef 00 would do for his health.
In consequence of this advice, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor
— for Mrs. Taylor had come down from Taiyuanfu to meet
her husband — accompanied by Mr. Coulthard, started for
the north without delay. Chef 00 was reached on Thurs-
day morning, May 8, where Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Ballard of
H.I.M. Customs most kindly entertained the party. The
improvement in health which immediately followed led Mr.
Taylor to decide to invite a number of the workers on the
Yangtze to come to Chef 00 for a change. A yard, with two
small buildings and a go-down, was rented from May 26,
1879, and under somewhat camping conditions of Hfe not a
few workers were much refreshed by a brief stay at this
invigorating seaside port.
133
134 THE SECOND DECADE
The value of Chefoo as a site for a Sanatorium at once
became evident, and in the autumn Mr. Taylor was enabled
to purchase land at a good distance from the foreign settle-
ment, where Mr. Judd superintended the building of a house
which he and his family subsequently occupied. Before
proceeding with further buildings, Mr. Taylor was desirous
of seeing of what nature the sea coast was south of the
Shantung promontory, and so on December lo he and Mr.
Coulthard left Chefoo by an overland route, and journeyed
south, reaching Yangchow early in January 1880.
The coast south of the promontory did not commend
itself to Mr. Taylor, and consequently Chefoo was decided
upon as the best place for the Sanatorium. This building
was commenced the same year, and it was subsequently
estimated that the entire cost was covered by the saving in
passages to Europe which would have been necessary during
the next five years but for the benefit gained by the workers
at Chefoo.
Early in the year 1881 Mr. W. L. Elliston, a quahfied
teacher who had been taken ill while engaged in evangehstic
work in Shansi, came to Chefoo for medical treatment, and
Mr. Taylor, who was also at Chefoo, suggested to him that
he might make good use of his time and talents by teaching
Mr. Judd's children. To this he consented, and a School
was commenced with two scholars in a little room about
twelve feet square. At this time there was no School in
China for European children, save one conducted by the
Jesuits in Shanghai, and applications soon began to arrive
from all parts of China from parents who were anxious
for their children to be educated under Protestant
influences.
The original idea of the School, therefore, soon expanded
itself, and in Chinas Millions for August 1881 Mr. Taylor
wrote :
Among the various works we are proposing is that of a School for
the children of missionaries and other foreign residents in China, and
we trust that through it the trial and expense of sending children home
from China may in many cases be saved. Mr. W. L. Elliston has
already made a commencement; and the number of pupils is about
BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE 135
twelve, with every prospect of increase. We are also hoping shortly
to see a Dispensary and probably a Hospital commenced there.
By April 1882, when Mr. Douthwaite reached Chefoo,
there were fourteen boys and girls in the School, and a new
building was in course of erection. In the following year
more land was purchased and a separate School for the boys
was erected. In following these developments at Chefoo,
we have already reached a point somewhat in advance of
our story elsewhere, for the plans laid down for these separate
Schools at Chefoo were made in faith, in view of the decision
arrived at in November 1881, to pray for seventy additional
workers. The logical sequence to such a prayer would
naturally be that more accommodation for the education of
missionaries' children would be needed.
Here, however, w^e must for the present leave the story
of what is one of the most noteworthy developments of the
Mission. Few questions more seriously exercise the hearts
and minds of missionaries than the arrangements necessary
for the education of their children. In Chefoo God has led
to an arrangement which involves the minimum of separation
both in distance and in time, and to a method whereby the
children are always under a sympathetic and Christian in-
fluence, since all the teachers are m.embers of the Mission.
The Schools and Sanatorium at Chefoo, the outcome first
of Mr. Taylor's serious condition physically, and subse-
quently of Mr. Elliston's illness, illustrate how God can and
does make all things, even adversity, work together for
good, so that the darkness and trial may become His guiding
pillar of cloud.i
1 Schools continued in Chapter XXXIV. p. 225.
XXI
A CHINESE PIONEER
In all the pioneering journeys already recorded, the foreign
missionaries, whether men or women, had been greatly
indebted to the assistance and companionship of the Chinese
Christians who accompanied them. The names of these
men have not always been recorded, but it is only right that
their services should be remembered. Though travelling in
their own country, they have, equally with the missionary,
endured hardness by the way, and not infrequently have had
to face the contempt of their fellow-men in ways which
would little affect the foreign worker. In this chapter we
purpose briefly to relate the story of one Chinese Christian,
who, as the pioneer of a remarkable work on the Kwangsin
River, may be looked upon as typical of many others who
have engaged in aggressive evangelistic work among their
own people.
Towards the close of the Taiping Rebellion, in the year
i860, a military official named Yii Yuh-shan was stationed
for a short time in the city of Ningpo, in command of a com-
pany of Imperial troops. He was an unusually thoughtful
man, deeply interested in spiritual affairs, and " by heavenly
chance express " happened one day to hear a foreign mis-
sionary preach the Gospel. Though no immediate fruit
followed this brief hearing of the Message of Life, the good
seed lay dormant in his heart for years. Meanwhile the
Imperial troops were disbanded, and Captain Yii, hearing of
a sect of reformed Buddhists opposed to idolatry, joined
them. Possessed of a tine missionary spirit, he received
136
A CHINESE PIONEER 137
permission from the leaders of this sect to go forth as their
accredited agent. Without salary or pecuniary aid, he
travelled from house to house and village to village, de-
nouncing the sin of idolatry and proclaiming the existence of
One Supreme but unknown Ruler over heaven and earth.
Through the persuasive earnestness of this man thousands
enrolled their names as converts in the provinces of Chekiang
and Kiangsi.
In 1875 Dr. Douthwaite received an urgent request from
a Chinese Christian to open a preaching-hall in the city of
Kinhwafu. On two previous occasions missionaries had
been turned out of this city, and the Doctor was not over-
sanguine of success. Accompanied, however, by two
Chinese evangelists and Pastor Wang Lae-djun, he set forth,
and after a few days' delay successfully rented a house in the
city. The news of the foreigner's arrival speedily spread,
and among those who came to see him was Captain Yii,
who had not forgotten the words he had heard at Ningpo
fifteen years before from some unknown messenger of the
Gospel. He became an earnest student of the Word, and
after about a year's study and inquiry, this zealous Buddhist
applied for baptism, and was with several others baptized by
Pastor Wang.
Several months later he was taken ill, and came to
the city of Chiichowfu to spend a few weeks under Dr.
Douthwaite's care. Ere this short visit had finished, he
asked that he might be allowed to go forward as a preacher
of the Gospel.
" I well remember/' wrote Dr. Douthwaite in the booklet from
which this story is taken^ " how after we had been reading the Scriptures
and praying together, he earnestly entreated me to let him go, saying,
' I have led hundreds on the wrong road, and now I want to lead them
to the Way of Truth. Let me go ; I ask no wages, nor do I want any
of your money ; I only want to serve Jesus.' "
Permission, of course, was gladly given, and after being
commended to God in prayer by the httle band of Christians
who formed the nucleus of the Church at Chiichowfu, he
packed up his bundle of bedding, and set forth on his
journey over the border into the neighbouring province of
138 THE SECOND DECADE
Kiangsi. Three weeks later he returned, bringing with him
an old farmer, Yii Liang-shih, one of his former converts to
the reformed Buddhist faith, a man who for more than forty
years had been seeking the truth. This new convert, ere he
returned home, asked for baptism, and argued so earnestly
against any delay, on account of his age, that Dr. Douthwaite,
after some hesitation, yielded to his request. The day
following his baptism he set out for his home, and so faith-
fully and effectually did he witness for Christ that six weeks
later he returned with six men who, like himself, had been
earnest seekers for the truth. These inquirers Dr. and Mrs.
Douthwaite gladly welcomed, and a year later the Doctor
had the joy of baptizing them in addition to nine others —
including several women — who had been led to trust in
Christ through their testimony and changed manner of
hfe.
Meanwhile Captain Yii had continued his work elsewhere,
and one of his converts was a young farmer named Tung of
Taiyang, near the city of Yiishan. When Dr. Douthwaite
visited this village, some months later, he was astonished to
find the courtyard of Farmer Tung's house filled with men
and women all seated in regular order on stools, chairs,
baskets, inverted buckets, etc., quietly waiting for him to
come and address them. Turning to the farmer, he asked
him how he had contrived to gather so many people together
at such short notice, and was still more surprised to learn
that it was their regular custom to meet thus every
evening, to sing hymns and listen to the reading of the
Scriptures.
During the year which followed this interesting visit to
Taiyang, Dr. Douthwaite baptized fifteen converts from
that village, and an equal number from other villages in the
same district — all the fruit of the labours of Captain Yii and
Farmer Tung. In this obscure village, on the eastern border
of Kiangsi, the first Christian Church in the Kwangsin
River district was organized. Subsequently a house was
rented in the city of Yiishan, which was made the centre of
missionary effort in that district, and preaching-halls were
soon opened in other places.
A CHINESE PIONEER 139
Through failure of health Dr. Douthwaite was compelled,
in 1880, to relinquish the work at Chiichowfu, and after a
brief period of service at Wenchow he removed to the more
bracing climate of Chefoo in 1882, where the memory of his
faithful and loving ser\7ice is still fresh and fragrant. Captain
Yii has also long since gone to his reward, but the seed he
sowed in Eastern Kiangsi is still springing up and bearing
fruit.
During the summer of 1880, Mr. Hudson Taylor and
Mr. Coulthard, after the journey south from Chefoo, when
the southern coast of the Shantung promontory/ was pro-
spected, visited the C.I.M. stations in eight of the eleven
prefectures of Chekiang, this journey being broken by a
brief visit to Shanghai in June to welcome Dr. and Mrs.
Schofield. From Chiichowfu Mr. Taylor and Mr. Coulthard,
accompanied by Mr. Randle, who had succeeded Dr. Douth-
waite as missionary-in-charge of that station, crossed the
border of the province and entered Kiangsi, where the work
originated by Captain Yii had sprang up.
After an interesting visit to the city of Yiishan, the party
proceeded down the Kwangsin River. From Hokow Mr.
Randle returned to his station, while the other two secured
passages on a large cargo boat and continued their journey.
At this time Hokow and Kweiki were the only other places
on this river open to missionary effort, and these were in the
care of Chinese evangelists supervised by Mr. Car dwell, who
was then residing at Takutang on the Poyang Lake. The
evangelists at these out-stations were greatly cheered by this
visit from Mr. Taylor, for Mr. Cardwell had been hindered
by family circumstances from visiting them as frequently
as he desired. When Takutang was reached, the needs of
the new work on the Kwangsin River were carefully and
prayerfulty discussed, and it was decided that as Hokow
was nearer to Chiichowiu than to Takutang, Mr. Randle
should in the future be made responsible for that work, while
Kweiki still remained under the charge of Mr. Cardwell.
Under these arrangements the work in these districts
continued for the next five or six years, until in the spring
of 1886 Mr. Hudson Taylor, in company with Miss Murray
140 THE SECOND DECADE
and other workers, undertook another journey dowTi the
same river, which journey inaugurated that special Women's
Work with which this district is now^ inseparably associated,
the story of which, however, must be postponed to a future
chapter.^
1 Continued in Chapter XXVII. p. 176.
XXII
HEALING THE SICK
Medical work has been the missionary's unofficial passport
in many lands, and in none more so than in China. Even
Dr. Morrison, immersed as he was in literary work, assisted
by two doctors connected with the East India Company,
undertook something in the way of dispensary work. In
1834, "the year that Morrison died. Dr. Peter Parker of the
American Board landed at Canton, and during the follow-
ing year opened the first Mission Hospital in China. In
1839, Dr. Lockhart of the L.M.S., the first medical missionary
from England to China, commenced work at Macao, being
joined by Dr. Hobson later in the year.
The dual commission of our Lord, " Preach the Gospel ;
heal the sick," early impressed Mr. Taylor and directed the
line of his studies ere he first sailed for China. Both at
Ningpo and afterwards at Hangchow, as his time and
strength allowed, he devoted himself to medical work, and
his qualifications as a doctor were an almost indispensable
part of his equipment as the founder and leader of a young
Mission, which for many years had no other medical man
within its ranks. Incidentally we have already mentioned
his labours as medical helper and adviser to the members
of the Mission in the early days. But even in later years,
though burdened with the complex responsibilities of a large
Mission, not a few experienced his kindly ministrations in
times of sickness.
Mr. Harvey, who joined the Mission in 1869, temporarily
retired after three years' service in the field, that he might
141
142 THE SECOND DECADE
qualify himself for medical work. In February 1876, after
having completed his medical training, Dr. Harvey with his
wife sailed from Glasgow to start a Medical Mission at
Bhamo. This work was carried on for some time, but owing
to the failure of Dr. Harvey's health, and the shock sustained
in a subsequent shipwreck when he and wife were seeking
change, both had to retire from the field.
Dr. Douthwaite, whose first interest in China was aroused
by the review of a booklet written by Mr. Meadows when at
home on furlough, went out in 1874, and though not then
fully qualified, he soon distinguished himself by his gifts as
a surgeon and physician. In his first year at Wenchow, he
treated more than four thousand patients.
In April 1882 Dr. Douthwaite commenced at Chef 00 the
chief work by which he will be remembered. For a brief
period in 1884, as soon as Korea opened its doors, he crossed
over and laboured for a while in that Hermit Kingdom,
which has of late so wondrously responded to the message
of the Gospel. After a well-earned furlough, when he com-
pleted his medical course, he returned to Chefoo in 1886,
and laboured there with noteworthy success and acceptance
until -his much-lamented death on October 5, 1899, The
story of these latter years cannot be told here, for we must
retrace our steps to the year 1880, when Dr. Harold Schofield
joined the Mission, for with him the Mission's medical work
passed from a tentative to a permanent basis.
The need of medical m.en in China had been so keenly felt
by the Mission that the London Council in 1879, when
Mr. Taylor was present, resolved to assist any really suitable
medical candidates in their training, and Mr. Taylor
attempted, though unsuccessfully, to secure from one of the
leading hospitals in London a special reduction of fees for
missionary students. The offer of so well qualified a man
as Dr. Harold Schofield, coming at this time, was therefore
a marked answer to prayer.
Robert Harold Ains worth Schofield was born in 1851,
and had had an unusually brilliant course at Oxford and
London, yet withal was a man of most humble spirit. Dr.
A. T. Schofield, his brother and biographer, relates how he
HEALING THE SICK 143
came across two small private papers which illuminate the
character of the writer. On one of these Dr. Harold
Schofield had written for his wife's eye only a list of his
scholarships, which amounted to over £1400. The other
was a torn piece of notepaper, inserted in a portfolio con-
taining over forty certificates of honour from the Victoria
Universitj/ ; certificates of the London University showing
that he was first in the Honours List in Zoology, third in
Honours in Geology, Palaeontology and Classics, and also
containing all his numerous diplomas. On this slip was
written : " God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
humble."
Such was the man who, crowned with the degrees and
honours of Oxford and London, counted it the greatest
honour of his life to lay all these at the feet of Jesus Christ,
tha-t he might be His servant in China.
Dr. and Mrs. Schofield, with Mr. R. J. Landale,^ also an
Oxford man, sailed for China, via America, on April 7, 1880,
the Doctor and his wife reaching Shanghai on June 30, and
Mr. Landale some days earlier. Dr. and Mrs. Schofield,
after a brief period of study at Chef 00, left for Taiyuanfu
at the end of October, Mr. and Mrs. Landale following them
early the next year. At that time there were only two
stations in Shansi : Taiyuanfu, the capital, and Pingyangfu
in the south of the province.
Dr. Schofield, who had previously had charge of a
hospital during the war between Turkey and Servia, and
had served in a like capacity in the conflict between Turkey
and Russia, soon commenced work in Taiyuanfu. At first
he wisely limited his medical work to two days a week, so as
to reserve the remaining time for the study of the language,
but even thus he treated over fifteen hundred different out-
patients and between forty and fifty in-patients during his
first year. During the following year these figures had more
than doubled, for 3247 different patients visited the hospital,
the total attendance being 6571, of whom 1174 were women.
As he was brought into closer contact with these patients
1 Mr, Landale had been in China before as an independent worker
associated with the Mission.
144 THE SECOND DECADE
the needs of China increasingly impressed him, and in
February 1883 he issued an appeal for medical missionaries
for the interior of China.
" It is little more than two years/' he wrote^ " since I began medical
work in this inland city, which is more than three hundred miles
(fourteen days' journey) from the nearest Treaty Port, but the vast
and crying need for more labourers constrains me to publish this
appeal. . . . Surely closely in the wake of the widely extended itinera-
tions, which have been taken in all parts of the Empire, should follow
the setthng down of medical missionaries at least in the capital of
every province, and if possible' in some of the largest county towns as
well.
" Most earnestly would I beg every Christian reader possessed of
competent medical knowledge, or who has the means of acquiring it,
to pray constantly for a blessing on medical mission work in this land,
and further to consider whether God is not calling him to devote his
medical knowledge and skill to the relief of the sick and suffering in
China, with the avowed object of bringing the light of the Gospel to
those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. There is an
immense field and great need for lady medical missionaries, thoroughly
qualified, to practise their profession, and yet no English Mission in
China as yet numbers such workers among its ranks."
This appeal was dated Taiyuanfu, February 7, 1883.
Ere another six months had passed the writer of it had
finished his brief career and passed to his reward, for on
August I, 1883, Dr. Schofield died of typhus fever, con-
tracted from a patient who was surreptitiously admitted by
the gate-keeper into a private room without the doctor's
knowledge. In accordance with his own request, made
shortly before his death, the following text and verse of a
hymn were placed upon his memorial card :
A little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will not
tarry.
A little while for winning souls to Jesus,
Ere we behold His beauty face to face.
A little while for healing souls' diseases,
By telling others of a Saviour's Grace.
Though Dr. Schofield was only permitted to give a little
more than three years of his life to the mission field — nearly
the same space of time as that which compassed our Saviour's
HEALING THE SICK 145
ministry on earth — we cannot and dare not measure life by
our imperfect measurement of time. Some of the briefest
hves upon the mission field, such as those of Henry Martyn,
Ion Keith Falconer, and Bishop Hannington, have been the
most fruitful in their influence upon others, and Dr. Schofield's
life will ever remain a reminder that earthly honours and
emoluments are as nothing to the glory of serving Christ
" by telHng others of a Saviour's Grace."
In the year preceding Dr. Schofield's Home-call two new
medical men had joined the Mission — Dr. William Wilson
and Dr. E. H. Edwards. The former of these was appointed
'to Hanchungfu in Shensi, where for many years he carried
on an important medical mission. Dr. Edwards, who was
at first designated to and proceeded to west China, was
asked to succeed Dr. Schofield and carry on the work which
had been so ably and successfully commenced. This work
continues to this day, though it was subsequently worked
for a time as an Independent Mission under the name of the
Sheoyang Mission, and then when all the workers, with the
exception of Dr. and Mrs. Edwards who were at home on
furlough, had been killed in the Boxer crisis, the work was
transferred to the care of the Baptist Missionary Society.^
^ The story of medical work is continued in Chapter XLIV. p. 296.
XXIII
PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN
During the same year in which Dr. Schofield reached China,
renewed efforts were made to settle in Hunan. This province,
with its population of twenty-two milhons of the most virile
of the Chinese race, was the last one to be opened to the
Gospel. The story of those who by earnest and importunate
prayer and with undaunted courage laboured for more than
twenty years for the opening of this province, is full of
inspiration and suggestive lessons. The work of the C.I.M.
in Hunan commenced in 1875,^ when Mr. C. H. Judd rented
premises in the city of Yochow, as recorded on p. 102.
We have also elsewhere followed the journeys of several
parties of pioneer workers, both men and women, who
travelled through the province on their way to regions
beyond. It was not, however, until the year 1880 that
continuous and persistent efforts were made to gain an
entrance into the province, and these will always be associated
with the name of Adam Dorward, who for eight years con-
centrated his sole attention on the evangelization of this
attractive yet hostile region.
Adam Dorward was born and brought up in comfortable
circumstances in the border town of Galashiels, and forsook
tempting prospects of life at home for the arduous calling of
a pioneer. He sailed for China on May 2, 1878, and early
1 The first Protestant missionary to enter Hunan was the Rev. Josiah
Cox of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. A recently discovered letter
shows that he made a journey into the province in May 1863, but apart
from this journey that Society was unable to do any more for Hunan
during the next thirty years.
146
PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN 147
expressed a desire to face the difficulties and dangers of
work on the borders of, or if possible within, the closed land
of Tibet. After spending more than two years in study
and preparatory work in the province of Anhwei, he gladly
accepted the closed province of Hunan as a more approxi-
mate and pressing problem than the distant borderlands of
the Empire. Here for the remaining eight years of his life,
amid unrecorded hardships and almost overwhelming dis-
couragements, he devoted the strength of his fine manhood
to what has unquestionably been the hardest initial task
Missions have had to face in China.
His first journey into Hunan commenced on October 18,
1880. This journey lasted five and a half months, and lay
right across the province from north-east to south-west, as
far as the city of Hungkiang, whence — after having re-
plenished his supphes of money at Kweiyang — he returned
overland by a route some two hundred miles long, through
regions previously unvisited by any Protestant missionary.
During this tour he was at times from five to six hundred
miles from his base, and passed through some of the most
southerly cities of the province, such as Wukangchow and
Paokingfu, selhng by the way over thirteen thousand Scrip-
tures and tracts. After a brief visit of a few days to Wuchang
for consultation with Mr. Taylor, he set forth once more
upon his strenuous toil. Again Kweiyang was visited, and,
after six days' conference with his brethren there, he and
his sturdy evangelist walked overland to Hungkiang, where
ten days were spent in an unsuccessful attempt to secure
premises. On July 26, in the midst of the summer heat,
this city was left and a number of other places visited, but
what Dorward was able to endure proved too much for his
coolies, and somewhat disappointed with the necessary
alteration of his plans, he changed his overland route to one
by water. At some of the places the Yamen authorities
would not allow him to enter within the city gates, and even
tried to prevent him selling books. He found, however,
plenty of people in the suburbs, and in his reports spoke
rather of the blessed privilege of being permitted to labour
in these difficult regions than of his sufferings and trials.
148 THE SECOND DECADE
Though Adam Dorward was not indifferent to the diffi-
culties of his task, he rarely spoke of hardship. On the last
day of the year 1881 he wrote :
Joined in spirit with other members of the Mission and made this a
special day of prayer. The year has passed as if it had been so many
weeks instead of months, yet the changes and trials through which the
Lord has led me have been very varied and somewhat extensive.
Canny Scot as he was, he soon recognized that the easiest
time to rent premises would be at the close of the Chinese
old year, when some hard-pressed debtor would be needing
money. He therefore left Paokingfu — where the official
had prohibited the people, by proclamation, from buying
or reading the foreign books — and reached Hungkiang again
on January 21, 1882. Ere many days had passed he and
his evangelist were rewarded with the possession of the
desired premises. The wisdom which had guided him to
select the close of the Chinese old year as the best time for
renting premises, now suggested to him the advisability of
absenting himself from the city for a few weeks. This he
did, leaving the evangelist in charge, whilst he visited other
centres which appeared to him of strategic importance for
the opening of the province. On April 30, 1882, he wrote
to Mr. Taylor from Shasi on the Yangtze, saying :
If I could make myself into four, I think I would be distributed in
this way : one to Shasi, one to Tsingshih, one to Changteh, and one
to Hungkiang. Can you do anything to make up for my deficiency ?
Was ever the need of, and locality for, reinforcements
put more diplomatically ?
After visiting a number of walled cities, and spending
several days in each, he reached Hungkiang again on June 17,
and settled into the premises, where in a quiet and un-
obtrusive way he carried on his work for the next three and
a half months. The rooms obtained were situated over an
inn, and though well located were far from ideal as a summer
residence. Writing in June, when the thermometer stood
at 97 in the shade, he facetiously remarks :
It is hard to say how high it may rise during July and August. Do
not be surprised if you hear that we have been roasted alive and . . . !
PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN 149
As the autumn advanced it became evident that move-
ments were on foot to eject him, so he again withdrew in
October, leaving two faithful Chinese helpers, Yao and Li,
to hold the fort. It was no small matter for praise that the
premises had been already held for nine months, and that
he himself had been able to reside there more than a third
of this time. Especially, too, he rejoiced in the fact that
six or seven persons had shown distinct interest in the
Gospel, and that though many people had been suspicious,
not a few made him complimentary presents when he left
the city.
The next six or eight months were given solely to itiner-
ating, the province of Kwangsi being visited during this
period. How much he felt the need of a companion will
never be known, for he spoke little of himself, but upon one
occasion when he heard of the prospects of a worker being
sent alone to Kwangsi, he wrote :
I hope he won't go there until he is able to have a companion with
him. I have had a trial at travelling alone^ and I do not think it
ought to be done when it can possibly be avoided. Jesus sent the
twelve, and the seventy, two and two, and His way must surely be
the best.
Often during these journeys he had to sleep with his
bed spread upon some straw on the floor, and during the
period under review he had his head badly cut with a brick
hurled at him when at Liuyanghsien. His only comment
on these hardships was the following sentence :
I hope, however, even such experiences may in some way glorify
God.
Upon one occasion, and only one, so far as the writer,
after examining all his available correspondence, has ascer-
tained, did this strong and hardy worker give vent to his
pent-up feelings.
" The noise in the inn this afternoon," he wrote, " has been deafen-
ing. I long to be alone with God and have a time of quiet in the
strictest sense of the word. Not only would I like to be permitted
to spend a few days in a room by myself, but I would wish for wings
that I might fly away to some uninhabited spot. I long more especially
150 THE SECOND DECADE
to be separate from all the noises of sense and time, as well as to be
apart from all the noises and distractions of this present world ; to
be alone in solitude with God; so that with all my heart and mind
occupied with Him only, I might in calmness and without distraction
pour out my soul to Him and hear His voice speaking to me."
With such desires it was natural that he should hope he
might be able to settle in the premises rented at Hungkiang,
and consequently he rejoiced when, at the conclusion of a
journey of more than thirteen hundred miles, he reached
that city once more on July 29, 1883. Here he found the
two evangelists, one with his wife and family, quietly carry-
ing on the work. Thankful even for the poor accommoda-
tion, he yet recognized the need of better premises if the
work was to be efhciently continued. So in an unostenta-
tious way he sought to win the hearts of the people, and to
secure a firm and better footing. August, September and
October rolled on, every day full of its quiet ministry, until
at length in November his negotiations for premises were
rewarded, the desired house being mortgaged for a term of
three years. All the arrangements were made quite openly
and regularly ; the agreement was written by the landlord
himself, and the house-deed, bearing the official stamp Hong-
ki, was handed over. This was indeed matter for rejoicing,
but what was more, the very week the deeds came into his
possession he received a letter from Mr. Taylor stating that
Mr. Dick had been appointed as his colleague. This was
surely a confirmation from God, and with great thankfulness
he poured out his heart in praise. His high hopes, however,
were not to be realized, and in fact, though Dorward was
spared to labour for five more years in the province, he was
yet to die in faith, " not having received the promise,''
though he had seen it and greeted it from afar.
On Thursday evening, December 13, Mr. Dorward's goods
were removed from the old residence, which had now been
held for nearly two years. The prayers of months and years
seemed answered, but the first rumblings of the coming
storm were soon heard. All Saturday and Sunday threats
of violence were made, and by Monday evening no effort was
spared to intimidate him, but Dorward was not the man to
PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN 151
be easily moved. Nothing terrified, he stood his ground,
arguing and parleying with the people, even after they had
begun to break up the house. He was determined now the
storm had broken to risk his life rather than yield the vantage
gained so long as a vestige of hope remained. But there
were other arguments more convincing than danger to
himself. It soon became evident that not only would he
suffer, but that the landlord and middle-men who had
assisted him would be cruelly treated by the officials and
people, so he sorrowfully decided to withdraw.
" So far as my own person was concerned/' he wrote, " I would
rather have died than yield, but I could not feel justified in causing
others to suffer — perhaps more than I should — and on that account
I was led to act as I did. I am not altogether discouraged, and I am
ready to go back shortly, if God shows such a course to be His will."
Thus terminated Dorward's noble efforts to effect a
permanent settlement at Hungkiang. Though the time
had not yet come for settled work in this province, it was
no mean achievement to have held premises from January
1882 to December 1883, and that he himself had been able
to reside in them from July 17 to October 1882, and from
July 29 to December 17, 1883.
With this enforced retirement from Hungkiang the
C.I.M. work in Hunan entered upon a new stage. Thoughts
of attempting work elsewhere in the province were enter-
tained, but the war which broke out between France and
China shortly afterwards made this impossible so long as
hostilities continued. Even the missionaries in the interior
of Kwangtung had to retire, so Dorward determined to open
Shasi on the Yangtze, and if possible Tsingshih, a little way
south of the northern border. Taking with him his long-
tried evangelist Yao, he left Wuchang on February 26, 1884,
and ere long secured premises in Shasi, where Mr. Dick
joined him in August. Here for the present we must leave
these w^orkers, simply calling attention to the accompanying
list of all the walled cities of Hunan, and remarking that
those which are italicized had been visited by Adam
Dorward prior to July 1883. A mere glance at this list,
152
THE SECOND DECADE
without further letterpress, will help the reader to realize
the strenuous nature of Adam Dorward's work during these
early years. ^
The Walled Cities of Hunan
This list gives in alphabetical order all the chief walled
cities of Hunan. Those italicized had been visited by
Adam Dorward prior to July 1883.
Anfu
Kweiyanghsien
Sinhwa
Anhwa
Lanshan
Sinning
Anjen
Leiyang
Sintien
Ansiang
Lichow
Suining
Chaling
Liling
Siipu
Changning
Ling
Taochow
Changsha
Lingling
Taoyiian
Changteh
Linsiang
Tsingchow
Chenchow
Linwu
Tsingtsiien
Chengpu
Liuyanghsien
Tungan
Chenki
Luki
Tungtao
Chikiang
Lungshanhsien
Tzeli
Fenghwangting
Limgyang
Wukangchow
Hengchowfu
Mayanghsien
Wuling
Hengshanhsien
Ningsiang
Yiyang
Hengyang
Ningyuanhsien
Yochow
Hingninghsien
Paling
Yuanghow
Hwangchowting
Paoking
Yiiankianghsien
Hwayung
Paotsing
Yiienling
Hweitung
Pingkiang
Yuhsien
Ichang
Sangchih
Yungchowfu
Kiaho
Shanhwa
Yimghinghsien
Kianghwa
Shaoyang
Yungming
Kienchowting
Shenchowfu
Yungshun
Kienyang
Shihmen
Yungshunfu
Kiyang
Siangsiang
Yiingsui
Kweitunghsien
Siangtan
Yungting
Kweiyangchow
Siangyin
1 Hunan story continued in Chapter XXXV. p. 230.
XXIV
THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY
A LITTLE more than a month after Adam Dorward had set
out for his first journey into Hunan, Messrs. J. W. Stevenson
and Henry Soltau, who were stationed at Bhamo, started
upon a noteworthy journey which w^as to prove how fully
the doors were being flung open into inland China. Though
Bhamo had been opened as a station with a view to the entry
of China from the west, the workers resident there had been
hitherto prohibited by the British representative from
crossing the border, and Messrs. McCarthy and Cameron,
who had crossed from China into Burma, had not been
permitted to return the same way. During the year 1880,
however, these prohibitions were in part removed in con-
sequence of the cordial relations existing between Messrs.
Stevenson and Soltau and the Kah-chens and the Chinese.
In 1867-68 Major Sladen succeeded in crossing the hills
through Burma into China and penetrated as far as Tengyueh.
The next attempt to enter China from the west cost the
valuable life of Augustus Margary in 1875. Nothing further
was attempted or allowed until early in 1880, when Mr.
Stevenson made an experimental journey across the frontier,
travelling as far as Yungchang. Returning to Bhamo, he
and Mr. Soltau started again on November 29 of the same
year, and having entered China by another route, travelled
right across the country, this being the first time China had
been crossed from west to east. Wuchang was reached on
March 25, 1881, after a journey of 1900 miles, in which,
but for the self-possession and tact of the travellers, and the
153
154 THE SECOND DECADE
faithful adhesion and skilful diplomacy of their Kah-chen
friends, their lives, humanly speaking, would have been
sacrificed.
This journey served to emphasize two things — first, that
China was being more and more opened to the Gospel, and
second, that more stations and workers were sorely needed ;
for during this journey of 117 days only two Mission centres
had been passed, namely, Chungking and Ichang. Mr.
Soltau, who had only laboured in Burma, wrote on February
22, 1881, after having been continuously travelling for
nearly three months without the sight of a single place where
the Gospel was being preached :
With what true feelings of joy and thanksgiving to God did I look
upon this house (in Chungking), the first mission station in China I
have ever seen. Most delightful was it to grasp the hands of our
fellow-Christians and fellow-countrymen after so many weary days
(86) of travel, during which we had not met one Christian, Chinese or
foreign.
Such facts as these made it abundantly evident that
what was needed, indeed, was not so much open doors as
workers to enter where the doors had been opened. Itinerant
journeys had been taken by single men in all of the un-
occupied provinces ; stations had been opened in most of
these, and missionaries' wives and even single ladies had
settled there. ^ The Mission had in all about one hundred
foreign workers, of whom twenty-nine were wives, located
in some seventy stations or out-stations in eleven provinces.
Such a small company was obviously insufficient to work
the places already occupied, let alone to enter new and
needy cities. All these things pointed to the conclusion
that China was certainly opening, if not already open.
" Were the Lord," wrote Mr. Taylor at this time, " to grant us
double the number of workers and double the means, within twelve
months we could have them all located and at work in needy districts
among perishing men and women."
1 By the close of 1881 every city in Shensi had been visited by C.I.M.
missionaries. The same was reported concerning every city in Shansi,
except two among the hills.
THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY 155
The value of all the itinerant work which had been done
was warmly commented upon by Consul Charles Alabaster
in his Report published and presented to Parliament in
1880.1 In this Report he wrote :
You can travel through China as easily and safely as you can in
Europe when and where you leave the main road. . . . This improved
state of affairs is due to the fact that the natives are becoming more
accustomed to the presence of foreigners among them, much of the
credit of which belongs to the members of what is called the China
Inland Mission. . . . Always on the move, the missionaries of this
Society have travelled throughout the country, taking hardship and
privation as the natural incidents of their profession. . . . They have
managed to make friends everywhere, and while labouring in their
special field as ministers of the Gospel, have accustomed the Chinese
to the presence of foreigners among them. . . . While aiding the
foreign merchants by obtaining information regarding the unknown
interior of the country and strengthening our relations by increasing
our intimacy with the people, this Mission has at the same time shown
the true way of spreading Christianity in China.
Such was the situation in November 1881, when a little
company of missionaries gathered together at the central
city of Wuchang, and with Mr. Taylor entered into con-
ference concerning the advance of Christ's Kingdom. During
these days of happy fellowship, this little band of some eight
or nine workers felt increasingly confirmed in the principles
on which the Mission was founded, so that with strengthened
faith and a deepened sense of the needs of China they recog-
nized more fully their responsibility to ask great things
from God.
Rising from their knees they said to one another, " What
shall we ask ? " They knew that in the past they had been
very definite in asking God for open doors, which prayer
God had answered ; the obvious need was now to definitely
ask for reinforcements. Taking a sheet of notepaper, they
quietly surveyed in thought the vast country, going over
province by province and station by station, making notes
of the helpers needed, if the older work were to be sustained
and the new openings to be developed. No arbitrary
1 See China, No. 3, 1880.
156 THE SECOND DECADE
number was selected, but the survey showed the need to be
42 men and 28 women, or 70 workers in all. The result,
therefore, of these deliberations was a determination to
definitely pray for 70 additional, willing, skilful workers for
the CT.M., as well as for large reinforcements for all the
Evangelical Societies at work in China.
In order to secure the fellowship of Christians at home
it was decided to draw up an appeal. This was done and
submitted not only to the little company present, but to all
the members of the Mission. In consequence of the unavoid-
able delay in obtaining the signatures of distant workers in
China, the appeal was not published immediately, but it
appeared in China s Millions for February 1883, with the
autograph signatures of 77 members of the Mission. The
Appeal was as follows :
We, the undersigned members of the China Inland Mission, having
had the privilege of personally labouring in many provinces of this
needy land, and having seen with our own e3^es something of its extent,
and of the great spiritual needs of the untold millions of its inhabitants,
feel pressed in spirit to make a united appeal to the Churches of the
living God in Great Britain and Ireland for earnest, persevering
prayer for more labourers.
We saw with thankfulness a few years ago the generous sympathy
called forth by a knowledge of the terrible famine of the bread which
perisheth in the northern provinces, and some of us personally took
part in distributing the practical fruits of this sympathy among the
needy and dying. Many lives were saved, many hungry ones were fed,
many naked ones were clad, needy and destitute children were taken in
and cared for, some of whom are still under Christian instruction.
A more widespread and awful famine of the bread of hfe now exists
to-day in every province in China. Souls on every hand are perishing
for lack of knowledge ; more than a thousand every hour are passing
away into death and darkness. We, and many others, have been sent
by God and by the Churches to minister the bread of life to these
perishing ones ; but our number collectively is utterly inadequate to
the crying needs around us. Provinces in China compare in area
vv^ith kingdoms in Europe, and average between ten and twenty
minions in population. One province has no missionary ; one has
only one, an unmarried missionary ; in each of two other provinces
there is only one missionary and his wife resident ; and none are
sufficiently supplied with labourers. Can we leave matters thus with-
out incurring the sin of bloodguiltiness ?
THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY 157
We plead, then, with the Churches of God at home collectively,
and with our brothers and sisters in Christ individually —
I. To unite with us in fervent, effectual prayer that the Lord of
the harvest may thrust forth more labourers into His harvest in
connection with every Protestant missionary society on both sides of
the Atlantic.
II. A careful survey of the spiritual work to which we ourselves are
called as members of the China Inland Mission has led us to feel the
importance of immediate and large reinforcements ; and many of us
are daily pleading with God in agreed prayer for forty-two additional
men and twenty-eight additional women, called and sent out by God
to assist us in carrying on and extending the work already committed
to our charge. We ask our brothers and sisters in Christ at home
to join us in praying the Lord of the harvest to thrust out this " other
seventy also." We are not anxious as to the means for sending them
forth or sustaining them. He has told us to look to the birds and
flowers, and to take no thought for these things, but to seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto us. But we are concerned that only men and women
called of God, fully consecrated to Him, and counting everything
precious as " dross and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus our Lord," should come out to join us ; and we would
add to this appeal a word of caution and encouragement to any who
may feel drawn to offer themselves for this blessed work. Of caution,
urging such to count the cost, to prayerfully wait on God, to ask
themselves whether they will really trust Him for everything, whenever
He may call them to go. Mere romantic feeling will soon die out in
the toilsome labour and constant discomforts and trials of inland work,
and will not be worth much when severe illness arises, and perhaps all
the money is gone. Faith in the Hving God alone gives joy and rest
in such circumstances. But also of encouragement, for we ourselves
have proved God's faithfulness and the blessedness of dependence on
Him. He is supplying, and ever has suppUed, all our need ; and if
not seldom we have fellowship in poverty with Him who for our sakes
became poor, shall we not rejoice if the day proves that we have been
like the great missionary apostle, " poor, yet making many rich ;
having nothing, yet possessing all things " ? He makes us very
happy in His service, and those of us who have children desire nothing
better for them, should the Lord tarry, than that they may be called
to similar work and to similar joys.
May He, dear Christian friends at home, ever be to you " a Hving,
bright reality," and enable you to fulfil His calling, and live as witnesses
unto Him in the power of the Holy Ghost. — Yours faithfully in His
service,
(Here follow 77 autograph signatures.)
158 THE SECOND DECADE
Such an appeal was a real step of faith, and was in no
sense stimulated by any superabundance of funds in hand ;
in fact, the income of the Mission at that time had been
lower than for four years, though the work was considerably
larger.
" We feel/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " that if God saw it needful to try
our faith, He could do so whether we were seventy more or seventy
less, and if He were pleased to supply us abundantly, the additional
seventy would be no difficulty to Him."
The trial of faith as to funds continued more or less
through the year 1882, and the last quarter of that
year was, so far as home remittances for general purposes
were concerned, perhaps the most trying quarter hitherto
experienced. In October, when Mr. Taylor was looking
with special expectancy for liberal supplies, in view of the
expenses of some long journeys, the letters from home
were eagerly opened. Instead, however, of the looked-
for seven or eight hundred pounds, only £96 '.9:5 was
forthcoming.
" We closed the envelope again," wrote Mr. Taylor, " and soon
sought our closet, and locking the door knelt down and spread the
letter before the Lord, asking Him what was to be done with less than
£97, a sum which it was impossible to distribute over seventy stations,
in which were eighty or ninety missionaries (including wives), not to
speak of about a hundred Chinese helpers, and over a hundred Chinese
children to be boarded and clothed in our schools. Having first
ourselves rolled the burden on the Lord, we then told the need to other
of our missionaries in Chefoo, and we unitedly looked to Him to
come to our aid, but let no hint even of our circumstances be
given outside.
^' Soon the answers began to come in in local gifts from kind friends,
who little knew the peculiar value of their donations, and in other
ways, and ere long all the needs of the month were met, and met
without our being burdened for one hour with anxious care. We had
similar experiences in November, and again in December, and on each
occasion, after spreading the letter before the Lord, we left the burden
with Him and were ' helped.'
" Finding from various letters that some of our English friends were
really concerned about this (forward) movement — afraid, apparently,
that while prayer for men might be answered, prayer for means might
THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY
159
remain unanswered — a few of us were led in Chefoo at one of our daily-
morning prayer-meetings to very definitely request the Lord to put
His seal upon this m^atter for the encouragement of the timid ones.
Not more than half a dozen were present, and the little prayer-meeting
was held either during one of the last days of January, or the first
days of February 1883. I regret that the date of this meeting was
not noted at the time, but I sailed from Chefoo on February 5 or 6,
and it must have been a few days before that time.
•^ We knew that our Father loves to please His children — what
father does not ? And we asked Him lovingly to please us, as well as
encourage the timid ones, by leading some of His wealthy stewards to
make room for a large blessing for himself and his family, by giving
liberally of his substance for this special object. No account of this
prayer-meeting was written home, and had it been written the letter
could not have reached England before the latter part of March.
It was telegraphed straight up to heaven, and God at once
telegraphed down the desire into the heart of a willing, skilful
steward who, on February 2, sent in anonymously £3000 for this
very project.
" By the time I was half way home, the tidings of this gift, conveyed
in a letter from my dear wife, then in England, was half way out, and
reached me at the port of Aden. It may be imagined with what joy
I received them.
" But this was not all. When I reached Marseilles, and went on
to Cannes to spend a few days with our valued friend, W. T. Berger,
Esq., the number of China's Millions for April 1883 reached my hands ;
and there I found in the list of donations this £3000, acknowledged
under the date of February 2, and the text, Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of Me, and
I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
Dr thy possession,' as follows :
Father . . . £1000
Mother
1000
Mary
200
Rosie
200
Bertie
200
Amy
200
Henry
200
£3000
" It was most striking to notice how literally God had fulfilled
our prayer, and led His faithful steward to make room for a large blessing
for himself and his family. Never before had a donation been received
and acknowledged in this way, and never since, save that acknowledged
i6o
THE SECOND DECADE
in the number of China's Millions for October 1884, where a donation
given for the same fund is entered thus :
I St Septembe
r, Ps. i
I. 8.
Father .
£200
Mother
200
Mary
100
Rosie
100
Bertie
100
Amy
100
Henry
100
Baby
100
£1000
A beautiful instance this of a loving father who seeks that each
member of his family shall have treasure in heaven. If there were
more such fathers^ would there not be fewer unbelieving children ? "
The appeal itself, while it asked for prayer for seventy
workers, stated no time within which these were to be given,
but some at least in China, to quote Mr. Taylor's words,
definitely prayed not merely that seventy workers might be given,
but that they might be granted during the three years 1882-3-4.
So assured was the little band of workers at Wuchang
that this whole matter in its conception and in its details
was of God that a praise meeting was held ere the conference
broke up. In this confidence none were put to shame, for
nine of the new helpers were given in 1882, eighteen more
in 1883, and forty-six in 1884, or seventy-three in all ; while
a further number were accepted and would have sailed had
not war between China and France rendered delay advisable.
To the praise of God it may also be stated that the income
of the Mission kept pace with the increased number of
workers.
THE THIRD DECADE
1885-1895
iAP. 25.
"The Cambridge Seven."
„ 26.
Organization and Expansion
„ 27.
The Kwangsin River.
;; 28.
North America.
„ 29.
To EVERY Creature.
„ 30.
Australasia.
;; 31-
Dividing the Field.
161 M
I said, " I will walk in the fields."
He said, " No, walk in the town."
I said, " There are no flowers there."
He said, " No flowers, but a crown."
I said, " But the sky is black,
There is nothing but noise and din."
But He wept as He led me back,
" There is more," He said, " there is sin."
I said, " But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered, " Yet souls are sick
And souls in the dark undone."
I said, " I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me they say."
He answered, " Choose to-night,
If I am to miss you or they."
I pleaded for time to be given.
He said, "Is it hard to decide ?
It will not seem hard in Heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide.
I cast one look at the fields,
Then set my face to the town.
He said, " My child, do you yield ?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown ?
Then into His hand went mine,
And into my heart came He :
And I walked in a light divine
The path I had feared to see.
XXV
" THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN "
For twenty years the work of the Mission had slowly grown
and prospered, in the midst of many hardships and trials
not unmixed sometimes with harsh and even bitter criticisms.
It was well that it should be so, for the Mission thus had
time and opportunity to prove beyond controversy that its
strength and security lay in the approval and blessing of
God, and not in the smile of man. With the year 1885 the
comparative obscurity of those early years somewhat
suddenly gave place to an unwonted notoriety through the
remarkable enthusiasm evoked throughout the country
by the going forth of the Cambridge Band. In the eyes
of some the going forth of such a party was the chief dis-
tinction of the Mission, but while gratefully acknowledging
all that such a gift of workers meant, nothing can obscure
the devotion and courage of the early pioneers, who, un-
affected by either applause or criticism, had been instru-
mental in opening up the hitherto unopened and unoccupied
provinces of China.
During the years when the Seventy were going forth to
China, the second Mission of Messrs. Moody and Sankey in
Great Britain was preparing the way, both directly and in-
directly, for the great outburst of missionary fervour which
so fittingly was to follow the time of grace which had been
manifested in so many parts of the kingdom. In Scotland
and in England, not only had many large centres of popula-
tion been blessed and helped through the visits of these well-
known evangelists, but the Universities also had shared in
163
i64 THE THIRD DECADE
the gracious Movement. At Cambridge the Eight Days'
Mission of November 1882 had been the beginning of a
period of spiritual uphft, which culminated in the startling
announcement, during the October term of 1884, that the
captain of the Cricket Eleven and the stroke of the 'Varsity
Eight were going forth to China as missionaries. At this
time only three or four of the Seven had offered for the
Foreign Field, but the others were to follow.
The formation of the Band of the now well-known Seven
extended over the greater part of a year. The first to meet
the London Council was Mr. D. E. Hoste on February 26,
1884 ; the second was ]\Ir. Stanley P. Smith on April i of
the same year ; next came the Rev. W. W. Cassels on
October 7 ; and Mr. C. T. Studd on November 4. The
probable departure in December of the first three of these,
in company with Mr. Hudson Taylor, was announced in
China's Millions for November, during which month the
Farewell Meetings, mentioned above, were held at both
Oxford and Cambridge.^ These meetings led to increased
interest, and ere the party sailed on February 5, 1885,
Messrs. Montagu Beauchamp and the two brothers Cecil
and Arthur Polhill-Tumer had joined the Band. The
extraordinary manifestations of interest and sympathy
awakened throughout the country were occasioned by the
personnel of the party. Mr. C. T. Studd had been captain
of the Cambridge University Eleven in 1883, and was also
a prominent member of the All - England Eleven ; Mr.
Stanle}^ Smith had been stroke of the Cam.bridge Eight in
1882 ; the Rev. W. W. Cassels was curate of All Saints,
South Lambeth ; Mr. D. E. Hoste had been an officer in the
Royal Artillery ; Mr. i\Iontagu Beaucham.p was a nephew
of the late Lord Radstock and stroke of one of the Cambridge
Trial Eights ; Mr. Cecil H. Polhill-Turner was an officer in
the 2nd Dragoon Guards, or Queen's Ba^'s ; and his brother,
1 It is interesting to contrast the enthusiasm of 1884 with the caution
of 1818. In the Life of Henry Venn, p. 14, the following quotation occurs :
" Simeon says in a letter (Nov, 30, 1818) : ' You will be surprised to hear
that we have just had a public meeting for the Missionary Society. I
trembled when it was proposed and recommended the most cautious
proceeding.' "
- THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN " 165
Mr. Arthur T. Polhill-Turner was, after graduating at the
University, reading for Holy Orders at Ridley Hall.
" The influence of such a band of men going to China as mission-
aries/' wrote Dr. Eugene Stock in the History of the Church Missionary
Society, " was irresistible. No such event had occurred before ; and
no event of the century has done so much to arouse the minds of
Christian men to the tremendous claims of the Field; and the nobility
of the missionary vocation. The gift of such a band to the China
Inland Mission — truly it was a gift from God — was a just reward to
Mr. Hudson Taylor and his colleagues for the genuine unselfishness
with which they had always pleaded the cause of China and the
world, and not of their own particular organization, and for the deep
spirituality which had always marked their meetings. And that
spirituality marked most emphatically the densely-crowded meetings
in different places at which these seven men said farewell. They told,
modestly and yet fearlessly, of the Lord's goodness to them, and of
the joy of serving Him ; and they appealed to young men, not for
their Mission, but for their Divine Master. No such missionary
meetings had ever been known as the farewell gathering at Exeter
Hall on February 4, 1885. We have become familiar since then with
meetings more or less of the sam.e type, but it was a new thing then."
During the few weeks immediately preceding the de-
parture of these workers, Messrs. Stanley Smith and Studd,
in company with Mr. Reginald RadcHffe, held meetings
at Liverpool, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock,
Newcastle, Leeds, Rochdale, Manchester, Bristol, and other
towns. At one of these meetings sixty persons professed
conversion. At Edinburgh the interest was extraordinary.
Opposition and criticism were ahke disarmed, and professors and
students together were seen in tears, to be followed in the after-
meeting by the glorious sight of professors deahng with students, and
students with one another.
Of the Farewell Meetings, held at the Conference Hall
Eccleston Street, at Cambridge, at Oxford, and finally, on
the eve of departure, at Exeter Hall, no description can
convey to those not present any adequate idea of the
enthusiasm shown.
As an evidence of the interest aroused, it may be
mentioned that the circulation of the issue of China's
Millions which contained the report of the Exeter Hall
i66 THE THIRD DECADE
meeting rose from twelve thousand to fifty thousand copies,
and all of these were sold. Still the demand continued, and
two thousand sets of several numbers of China's Millions,
containing further news concerning the voyage and first
days in China, were published in book form, and were quickly
disposed of. This led to the preparation by Mr. Benjamin
Broomhall of a book entitled The Missionary Band : A
Record of Consecration and an Appeal. Of this fifteen
thousand copies were rapidly sold, and a copy was graciously
accepted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. An enlarged and
improved edition under the title of The Evangelization of
the World ^ was prepared and also found great acceptance.
A copy of this book was sent by Sir George Wilhams, with a
personal letter, to every Y.M.C.A. in the United Kingdom,
and was doubtless part of God's preparation for the sub-
sequent enlargement of the Mission.
The times of blessing experienced in England were
repeated in China at meetings held at Shanghai, Tientsin,
and Peking, though at Shanghai the party divided — Messrs.
Studd and Cecil and Arthur Polhill leaving for Hanchungfu,
while Messrs. Stanley Smith, Hoste and Cassels proceeded
to Shansi, via Peking, Mr. Montagu Beauchamp following
later. One result of the meetings at Peking was an appeal
for special and united prayer for the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. This appeal was signed by twenty-five missionaries
at Peking, and was sent to all the Mission stations in China.
" If we would all unite/' it concluded; " have we not faith to
believe that God would shake China with His power ? "
The limits of this volume will not permit us to follow in
any detail the movements of these workers. In Shansi, to
which the four already mentioned were designated, there
were only three Mission stations : Tai5manfu and Pingyangfu
occupied by the C.I.M., and Taiku worked by the American
1 Dr. Eugene Stock has written : " The Evangelization of the World
was, in my judgment, a masterpiece of editing, and I do not doubt that its
circulation gave great impetus to the missionary cause." Dr. Robert
Speer has pubhcly stated that, apart from the Bible, no books have so
influenced his career as Dr. Blaikie's Personal Lije of Livingstone and
Broomhall's Evangelization of the World.
- THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN " 167
Board. In and around Pingyangfu the remarkable work
associated with the name of Pastor Hsi was in its early
stages.^ In the spring of 1884, just a year before the arrival
of these reinforcements, there were about fifty baptized
Church members, and into this district the new workers
arrived in midsummer 1885. Within eight months four
new stations had been opened, and Mr. Studd had come over
from Hanchungfu to join the party.
Mr. Hudson Taylor had long wished and made many
attempts to reach Shansi, and at length found his way
opened in the summer of 1886. Accompanied by Mr. Orr-
Ewing, and his son, Herbert Taylor, he reached Taiyuanfu on
Saturday July 3, where they were warmly welcomed by Dr.
and Mrs. Edwards, and by the other workers, among whom
were Mr. Taylor's niece and nephew, Gertrude and Hudson
Broomhall. As the workers from the south of the province
had already reached the capital, a Conference was held from
Monday July 5 to Wednesday July 14, which period proved
to be " days of blessing " ^ and spiritual refreshment.
From Taiyuanfu some of the company proceeded south
to Hungtung, where they were joined by Mr. Stevenson,
who had travelled overland from Shensi. Similar meetings
were held here during the first two days of August, there
being also over a hundred Chinese Christians present. On
the second day of this Chinese Conference, Mr. Hsi was
ordained Superintendent Pastor, but without any definition
of district since his work was so extensive ; Mr. Sung was
set apart as Pastor of the Pingyangfu church ; two other
leading Christians were appointed as elders, and sixteen
more as deacons. At the sacred Ordinance of the Lord's
Supper, which followed this solemn setting apart of Church
Officers, over seventy were present. Pastor Hsi presiding
and Stanley Smith giving the address on " This do in
remembrance of Me."
On the 4th and 5th of August a similar Conference was
1 See Pastor Hsi : Confucian Scholar and Christian, by Mrs. Howard
Taylor (Morgan & Scott, Ltd.).
2 A report of this Conference was compiled by Mr. Montagu Beauchamp,
and published under the title Days of Blessing in Inland China (Morgan
& Scott, Ltd.).
i68 THE THIRD DECADE
held at Pingyangfu, when Mr. Ch'ii was ordained as Pastor
of the Taning and Sichow districts, and five more Deacons
were set apart. Space fails us to follow further the work in
Shansi. Station after station was opened, one of these,
Hwochow being opened by the devotion of Mrs. Hsi, who
resolutely sold her jewellery and other much-prized posses-
sions to meet the expenses.
Messrs. Cassels and Beauchamp subsequently left the
province for work in Szechwan, where, with the two brothers,
Cecil and Arthur Polhill, their chief life-work has been
accomplished. On October i8, 1895, the Rev. W. W.
Cassels was consecrated Bishop in Western China, with the
cordial approval of both the C.I.M., and the C.M.S., which
latter Society guaranteed the Episcopal stipend, and in this
office he has won the warm love and cordial esteem of all his
brethren. Mr. Beauchamp distinguished himself as an
ardent pioneer-evangelist ; Mr. Cecil Polhill from the first
manifested especial interest in the needs of Tibet, and passed
through a serious riot at Sungpan in the course of his labours ;
Mr. Arthur Polhill has, with a quiet persistence, worked on
at the all-important routine of station duties.
In Shansi Mr. Stanley Smith subsequently left the
Hungtung district for the east of the province, where he has
laboured ever since, his fine gifts as an orator being greatly
appreciated by the Chinese ; Mr. C. T. Studd also laboured
with much devotion in the east of the same province until
failure of health compelled him to withdraw to other more
favourable climates ; while Mr. D. E. Hoste continued for
nearly ten years the valued and trusted colleague of Pastor
Hsi, until the death of that devoted Chinese leader on
February 19, 1896. Shortly after Pastor Hsi's death,
Mr. Hoste left for a much-needed furlough during which he
visited Australia. Instead of returning to Shansi, on his
return to the field, he was appointed to Honan, where he
worked as Superintendent of the province, until in 1900, in
consequence of Mr. Taylor's failure in health, he settled in
Shanghai, that he might strengthen the hands of Mr.
Stevenson during the strain of the terrible days of the Boxer
outbreak. In the following March, Mr. Hoste was appointed
- THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN " 169
Acting General Director, and subsequently General Director
of the Mission, as will be recorded in a later chapter.
Sufficient has been said to show that the Cambridge Band
was indeed God's gift to the Mission, and it is a remarkable
fact that after the lapse of thirty years, the Band is still
unbroken. As we write six of the seven are actually in the
Mission field, while the remaining member would also be
there did circumstances permit.
XXVI
ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION
If the year 1885, when the Cambridge Band sailed, may be
characteriz(id as one of popularity at home, the; year 1886
may be remembered as one of organization on the field, and
the year 1887 as one of unprecedented expansion through
the going forth of the Hundred. When the Appeal for the
Seventy was drawn up at Wuchang, at the close of 1881,
there were less than seventy members of the Mission ;
whereas, by the close of 1885 this number had increased
to one hundred and seventy-seven, with a corresponding
advance in all other departments of work. During these
years of progress Mr. Taylor had been more and more im-
pressed with the importance and urgency of moni thoroughly
organizing the work on the field.
In the spring of 1883, after an absence of four years in
China, Mr. Taylor returned to lingland, and after prolonged
thought and prayer, embodied in a circular letter, which was
sent to all members of the Mission, his proposals for the
future of the work in China. Tliis letter, which was dated
August 24, 1883, proposed among other things the division
of the field into Mission districts ; the appointment of super-
intendents over these districts, and the foi rnation of a China
Council, to be composed of these superintendents, with the
Director or his Deputy as Chairman.
In January 1885, Mr. Taylor, after having carefully
discussed his plans with the Council in London, returned to
China with the definite object of developing this proposed
scheme of organization. Though impeded by various causes,
170
ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION 171
one of which was the sickness or absence on furlough of some
of the older workers, ten of the senior members of the
Mission were either nominated or appointed to superintend
the work in larger or smaller districts. Eight of these ten
had been successful workers in the held for periods varying
from eleven to twenty-four years, while the other two had
been two or three times as long in China as those who were
working under their supervision.^
What was of even greater moment than the selection of
a Council was the appointment of a Deputy Director in
China who could visit the stations on Mr. Taylor's behalf,
or act as Chairman of the Council or Director of the work in
China during his absence. The choice for this responsible
position fell upon Mr. John Whiteford Stevenson, who, after
nearly twenty years of varied experience in China returned
to the held in December 1885, with the expectation of
proceeding to the province of Yunnan. At Mr. Taylor's
request, however, he remained in Shanghai, at first to give
some much-needed temporary assistance, and then as a
travelling Deputy to undertake a number of extensive
journeys. In this work he was much prospered, and so
fully obtained the goodwill and confidence of his brethren
that the larger and permanent appointment followed, in
which post for nearly thirty years Mr. Stevenson has, with
unsparing devotion, sometimes in times of special stress and
strain, spent himself in the service of his brethren.
Shortly after Mr. Stevenson's departure for tlu^ journeys
mentioned above, Mr. Taylor also set forth, and during the
months from May to October 1886, he visited the work in
no less than nine provinces. Of his journey down the
Kwaugsin River fuller reference will l)i^ made in our next
chapter; while of the organization of the (lunese Church
in Sliansi we have alrc^ady si)oken. In Sliansi, it will be
remembered, Mr. Stevenson, who was travelling from the
west, had joined Mr. Taylor's party, which had travelled
' Vhr names ol (hcsc supiM iiiltuulenls, wiMi (lio dates of tlu>ir arrival
in China arc : J. ]. Meadows, 1802 ; j. W. Stevenson, i8()6 ; J. M'Carthy,
1807 ; 13. lia},Miali. 1873 ; F. W. Jiallor, 1873 ; J. Cameron, 1875 ; G. W.
Clarke. 1873 ; C. l>. l-.aslon, 1875 ; A. C. Dm-wiud, 1878 ; W. Cooper, 1881.
172 THE THIRD DECADE
from the east, upon the memorable occasion of the ordination
of Pastor Hsi.
During these days of blessing in Shansi, Mr. Stevenson
received a great spiritual uplift, and in a letter addressed
to Mrs. Taylor, and written ere he left the province, he
wrote :
We are greatly encouraged out here^ and are definitely asking and
receiving by faith definite blessing for this hungry and thirsty land.
We are fully expecting at least a hundred fresh labourers to arrive in
China in 1887. . . .
At the conclusion of these journeys Mr. Taylor and
Mr. Stevenson, with five of the Provincial Superintendents,
met in the prefectural city of Anking for the first meeting of
the newly-formed China Council.^ Before the discussion of
definite business several days were devoted to prayer and
fasting. At one of the gatherings for pra3^er Mr. Stevenson
reiterated the thought suggested in his letter from Shansi,
saying, " Shall we not pray for immediate reinforcements —
a hundred new workers during the coming year ? " There
was indeed abundant need, as all present too sadly knew.
This great request was laid before God, and among the things
discussed at the subsequent Council meetings, which lasted
from November 13 to 26, was a uniform plan of study for
future candidates, and the appointment of two Training
Institutions, one for men at iVnking, and one for women at
Yangchow.
On the day before this first session of the China Council
closed, Mr. Stevenson, at Mr. Taylor's request, sent out a
circular letter to all the members of the Mission, reminding
them of the Day of Prayer and Fasting on December 31.
This letter, dated November 25, 1886, closes as follows :
The coming out of twenty-two new workers — five of whom are
self-supporting — this year, is in itself no small cause for thanksgiving.
Our needs are, however, so great that this increase has appeared as
^ Only a few weeks before these Council Meetings, the Chinese Govern-
ment had issued an Edict of Religious Toleration, which was no small
subject for encouragement and thanksgiving.
ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION 173
nothing, and I would suggest that definite prayer for no less than one
hundred new workers during 1887 be offered on our fast day, and also
that it may be a subject of daily prayer afterwards. " Hitherto ye
have asked nothing in My Name ; ask, and ye shall receive, that your
joy may be full."
At the close of these Council Meetings, Mr. Taylor and
Mr. Stevenson proceeded from Anking to Takutang, whence
they cabled the following message to London in December :
Banded prayer next year hundred new workers send
possible.
soon as
Meanwhile Mr. Bailer, with the assistance of Mr. Landale
and four competent Chinese teachers, commenced the
preparation of a book to aid new beginners in the study of
the language. This was the first edition of the now well-
known Bailer's Mandarin Primer.
A hundred new workers in one year was a great request,
and one which was to tax severely the workers in the Home
Department, as well as to call for a very substantial enlarge-
ment of income. Yet God who had led to the prayer being
offered gave the faith that He would answer.
" We have been led to pray for one hundred new workers this
year," said Mr. Ta3dor at the Annual Meetings in London on May 26,
1887. " We have the sure word ' Whatsoever ye shall ask in My
Name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' Rest-
ing on this promise, it would not have added to our confidence one
whit, if, when we began to pray in November, my brother-in-law,
Mr. Broomhall, had sent me out a printed list of one hundred accepted
candidates. We had been spending some days in fasting and prayer
for guidance and blessing before the thought was first suggested to our
mind. We began the matter aright — with God — and we are quite
sure that we shall end aright. . . . Whether God will give His ' ex-
ceeding abundantly ' by sending us more than the literal hundred,
or whether by stirring up other branches of the Church to send many
hundreds — which I would greatly prefer — or whether by awakening
a missionary enthusiasm all over the Church, and blessing the whole
world through it, I do not know. I hope that He will answer prayer
in all these ways ; but sure I am that God will do it handsomely."
And God did answer prayer, for the close of the year saw
all the hundred workers either in China, or on their way
174 THE THIRD DECADE
thither. And of this ntimber it may be mentioned three
were the pioneers of the Bible Christian Mission in China,
which Mission for some years worked in association with the
C.I.M. Especially encouraging was the way in which God
supplied the funds, for with the great pressure occasioned
by a careful examination of several hundred candidates who
applied, the task might have proved too great had the sudden
rise in the income from £22,000 to £33,700 come through a
large number of small gifts. Of this sum, however, eleven
contributions — ^the smallest of which was £500 and the largest
£2500 — supplied no less than £10,000. A few details
as to some of these gifts may be recorded for the glory of
God, for while the smallest gifts are valued, in this case
special prayer had been made that some large donations
might be received for the special needs of so large a party.
Further, some of the larger gifts were directly connected
with a widow's mite.
Shortly after the receipt of the cable from China, report-
ing prayer for the hundred new workers, the late Mr. T. A.
Denny invited Mr. Broomhall, then Secretary of the Mission,
to breakfast with him in his West End home. About eight
persons in all were present, and during the meal many
questions were asked concerning the work of God in China.
When answering these, Mr. Broomhall took from his pocket a
letter he had received from a poor widow, who out of her
poverty frequently sent gifts to the Mission. The self-
denial of this widow, who said she could do without meat
but the heathen could not do without the Gospel, came, so
Mr. J. E. Mathieson, who was present, said, " as a shock to
our personal self-indulgence." At the close of the meal, the
host stated that all he had ever given to God's work had
not cost him a mutton chop. He had chiefly helped work
at home, but he would now like to do something for the
Foreign Field, and he thereupon promised £500 to the work
of the C.I.M. This voluntary offering led to a private con-
versation round the table, with the result that three others
decided to make a similar gift, whilst a fourth friend, who
had been invited, but had been unable to come, decided to
do the same, so that that somewhat impromptu breakfast
ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION 175
party contributed no less than £2500 at the very outset of
this new movement.
On the day of the Annual Meetings of the same year, a
cable from China told of a gift of £1000 made out there,
while a letter from Mr. Berger, read at the same Annual
Meeting, announced a gift of £500 in thanksgiving to God
for all that He had condescended to do through the Mission,
whilst notice was also given of another gift of £2000 to be
paid in on July i. Thus in many ways, and through many
channels God supplied the necessary means, and set his
seal to the going forth of these workers.
It may not be without interest to record that after a
lapse of twenty-seven years, an analysis shows that of the
hundred who sailed in 1887, seven laid down their lives
during the Boxer crisis ; sixteen others have been called to
Higher Service by natural death ; twenty-eight have on
account of health or other causes retired ; while forty-nine
are still in the Foreign Field, thirty-eight of these being still
connected with the China Inland Mission.
XXVII
THE KWANGSIN RIVER
Though there are now not a few Mission stations in the
Foreign Field where only lady workers reside, there is
probably no sphere of Women's Work quite comparable to
that on the Kwangsin River. The Kwangsin River, rising
among the hills of West Chekiang, runs for about two hundred
miles through the north-east of the province of Kiangsi,
until it empties itself into the Poyang Lake. Throughout
this entire region all the Mission stations are worked by
women only, and this experiment, if such it may be called,
has been signally owned and blessed of God.
It was somewhat of a new departure when, in the Lammer-
muir party of 1866, six single ladies sailed for China with a
view to working inland, but the appointment of such a
separate sphere for women's work, as was the case on the
Kwangsin River, was an even greater innovation. That it
came to be so was mainly from the fact that there were no
men to appoint — " We have had no men to spare for the
fifteen millions of Kiangsi," ^\Tote Mr. Talyor — and so the
question which had to be faced was, shall this district be left
without the Gospel, or shall the messengers of Peace be
women ? The latter of these alternatives needed some
courage and independence on the part of the leader, and also
on the part of those who volunteered to go, but the thought
of leaving so needy a sphere without the Gospel was un-
thinkable. And so the venture was made and has been more
than justified.
The story of Captain Yii's work, which led to the opening
176
THE KWANGSIN RIVER 177
up of Yiishan, and the early itinerations of Mr. Cardwell
have already been told in earlier chapters.^ It will be
remembered that after Mr. Taylor's journey down the
Kwangsin River in 1880, when the three out-stations of
Yiishan, Hokow, and Kweiki were visited, the work had
been somewhat rearranged, the superintendence of the two
former of these stations being placed in the hands of Mr.
Ran die, who resided at Chiichowfu, and the care of the
latter remaining with Mr. Cardwell, who was stationed at
Takutang. During the nearly six years which had elapsed
since that arrangement was made, comparatively little had
been done for these small centres of light. They had been
visited occasionally by the missionaries in charge, but there
had been no worker to spare to commence settled work upon
this river.
Meanwhile God was blessing the deputation work of
Mr. McCarthy while at home on furlough, and caUing out a
number of lady workers, some of whom were to dedicate their
lives to this needy region. The last party of the Seventy,
which sailed for China in October 1884, was composed of
ladies under the escort of the Misses Murray. Of this band
of workers six came from Glasgow and three from England.
In the autumn of 1885, two of this party, the Misses
Mackintosh and Gibson, were appointed to the station of
Chiichowfu, where Captain Yii had been converted, and
where the work was then in the care of Mr. and Mrs. D.
Thompson. After a busy autumn and winter Miss Gibson
went for a brief change to the out-station of Changshan,
but instead of finding rest, she was almost overwhelmed
with opportunities of service among the women. The effect
of this brief visit was such that the local Christians spontane-
ously contributed ten dollars towards the renovation of the
Mission premises with the hope of securing a settled worker
in their midst. Such an experience promised well for
similar work elsewhere, and when Mr. Taylor about the same
time visited the city of Yangchow in Kiangsu, which was
then a ladies' station, he was dehghted with what he sav/.
The Chinese women, and even some ladies of position, had
1 See Chapter XXI. page 136 for beginnings of Kwangsin River work.
N
178 THE THIRD DECADE
begun to look upon their foreign sisters quite in the hght of
friends. Some of the Chinese homes had been opened not
only to occasional visits but for regular services. Altogether
the aspect of the work was such as to encourage a new
departure in women's work.
In the spring of 1886, only a few weeks after this visit
to Yangchow and Miss Gibson's brief stay in the out-
station of Changshan, Mr. Taylor started on his second
journey down the Kwangsin River, accompanied by his
son Herbert, Mr. Thompson, and with five of the 1884 ladies'
party, the Misses C. K. and M. Murray, Mackintosh, Gray,
and Webb. From Changshan the party proceeded by sedan
chairs to cross the watershed from the head waters of the
Tsientang River to those of the Kwangsin River. After this
rough journey of some thirty English miles, Yiishan was
reached, where the evangelist extended a hearty welcome
to the party. Several days were spent here, and on Sunday
a little company of some thirty Christians, some from con-
siderable distances, gathered together. It was good to find
that of the thirty-six at this centre who had been baptized
from the commencement, thirty-three were still in fellowship.
For years they had been praying that some missionary might
come and settle in their midst, and now that they heard that
their prayers were to be answered, their gratitude was real
and touching.
Yiishan stands at the head of the navigable waters of the
Kwangsin River, and from this point the journey was made
down-stream by boat. At Hokow, the next out-station to
be reached, Mr. Taylor with Mr. Thompson and the Misses
Mackintosh and Gray went ashore and had a helpful time
with the enquirers, while many interested visitors came to
see those who remained on board. In this city there were
found some eight or nine women apparently quite ready for
baptism, but a public baptismal service for women at such
an early stage was naturally thought to be undesirable.
From Hokow the party proceeded further down-stream
to Kweiki, where an evangelist was stationed, and here they
had the joy of witnessing the baptism of the first convert, a
Mr. Wang, who, with his wife and five sons had all come
THE KWANGSIN RIVER 179
forward as candidates. This early convert, who is now
(1915) Elder of the Church at Kweiki, still faithfully main-
tains his witness for Christ. The station of Takutang,
situated on the Poyang Lake, at the foot of the magnificent
hills, where the well-known sanatorium Ruling now stands,
was reached early in June, the three centres mentioned being
the only places in the whole of the journey down the river
which were in any sense open to the Gospel. It need hardly
be said that earnest prayer had been offered for the many
other cities and villages which were just as needy, and these
prayers were to be speedily answered.
On June 17, not many days after Takutang was reached,
three of the party, the Misses Mackintosh, Gray, and Webb,
set forth once more to journey back to the stations they had
so recently visited, this time accompanied by Miss Byron.
Ere they started, Romans viii. was read as their morning
portion, and strengthened by the conviction that nothing
could separate them from the love of God which was in
Christ Jesus their Lord, they set forth filled with holy joy
to a task fraught with many and serious difficulties. Hokow
was reached on June 30, and here Miss Gray and Miss Webb
went ashore, while Miss Mackintosh and Miss Byron pro-
ceeded to their respective stations of Yiishan and Chang-
shan. Throughout the whole of the summer and autumn
the two ladies on the lower reaches of the river travelled
from centre to centre, living much on their boat, but spending
longer or shorter periods at Kweiki and Hokow, while the
other two worked in or around their separate stations.
In November Miss MTarlane, another of the 1884 band,
and Miss Littler came as reinforcements to the Kwangsin
River. Miss Littler settled at Changshan with Miss Byron,
and Miss M'Farlane temporarily resided at Yiishan, after
having spent a short time at the other centres. Lack of
space prevents us following in any detail the pioneer work
of these noble women, amid many encouragements, constant
inconveniences, and occasional perils. In briefest fashion
we can only record that in the spring of 1887 Miss Gibson,
another of the 1884 party, settled at Hokow, where for the
next twenty years, until her death, she was in charge of the
i8o THE THIRD DECADE
station. In 1890 Miss Marchbank, who had for more than
two years been associated with INIiss Mackintosh at Yiishan,
moved to Kweiki, where she has been the devoted leader
ever since. Meanwhile most of the sisters of the first North
American party, which reached China towards the close of
1888, had been designated to Kiangsi, and with their help
the tw^o cities of Kw^angfeng and Anjen were occupied in
1889, and lyang and Yangkow in the following year. Thus
within a few years every cit}^ on the river, with the exception
of Kwangsinfu, had been opened to the Gospel, while
countless villages around had heard the joyful news.
Gracious fruit to all this labour was early seen, for 55
persons confessed Christ in baptism in the year 1887, 35 more
in 1888, and another 59 during the following year. When
the first Conference of the workers on the Kwangsin River
met at Yiishan in September 1890, there were seventeen
sisters present, representing a band of twenty-one w^orkers
from nine or ten stations. This company of workers
from England, Scotland, Canada, the United States, and
Switzerland, met under the guidance of Mr. McCarthy, then
Superintendent of that district. And they were able to
rejoice in the glad fact that already more than 260 persons
had been baptized in that region for which they were specially
responsible. This was indeed an encouraging beginning.
The prefect ural city of Kwangsinfu was still, however,
closed to the Gospel, though many attempts had been made
to gain an entrance. Despite the fact that the workers were
repeatedly repulsed, and the Chinese helpers not infrequently
roughly handled, this city was constantly visited and many
friends gained. At length in 1901, Miss M'Farlane, assisted
by an experienced teacher, Mr. Li, was prospered in the
renting of a house. Quietly she moved in at night, but
next day, when the gentry heard of the fact, they drew up
a petition requesting the official to compel the foreigner to
withdraw. They were not, however, the first to address the
magistrate, for Miss M'Farlane's card had already been
presented at the Yamen, and the ofiicial had promised his
protection, and despite all that the gentry tried to do, he
did not go back from his word.
THE KWANGSIN RIVER
i«i
In following the story of the occupation of the prefectural
city, the last in this region to open its gates to the Gospel,
we have somewhat exceeded the Hmits of the period of
which this section treats. Here, however, we must leave
this interesting sphere of labour in which every year has
seen increasing blessing. Few stations in the Mission, if
any, have given more encouraging results than those on the
Kwangsin River, more than three thousand persons having
been baptized at these stations worked by lady workers.
For the first five years the work was superintended by
Mr. McCarthy, from which time until after the year 1900,
it was under the able and generous care of Mr. A. Orr Ewing.
After the Boxer crisis, Mr. E. Pearse took these responsi-
bilities, while Mr. Orr Ewing devoted himself to the super-
intendence of the work in the north, centre, and south of the
province, a work entaihng arduous and almost incessant
travelhng from place to place. After Mr. Pearse's return to
England Mr. William Taylor, one of the North American
party mentioned below, was in 1912 appointed Superinten-
dent of north and north-east Kiangsi.
Three years after Mr. Taylor's journey down the Kwangsin
River, when this special department of women's work was
inaugurated, because no men could be spared for the fifteen
milhons in Kiangsi, a band of six Canadian brethren were
designated for itinerant service in the practically untouched
centre, south, and west of the province. These brethren ^
reached Kiukiang on October 30, 1889, and speedily entered
upon their arduous toil. These parts of Kiangsi proved a
harder field to open than the Kwangsin River, possibly
because there was more political suspicion connected with
the work of men than that of women. ^
^ Messrs. Home, Meikle, Rough, Lawson, G. Duff, and Souter. In
1891 Messrs. Wm. Taylor and A. E. Thor took the pJaces of Souter, who
had died, and of Rough, who had taken over the business work at Kiukiang.
2 Mr. Hudson Taylor, speaking at the Shanghai Missionary Conference
of 1890, said : " The issue of women's work has greatly dehghted and
somewhat astonished me ; and it is a very serious question in my mind
whether those provinces and cities in China which are utterly closed to
male evangelists may not prove open to our sisters. We have seen this
in some cases. There is not the same fear that lady missionaries are
i82 THE THIRD DECADE
In this work on the Kan River, no attempt was made at
first to rent houses, so as to avoid all possible trouble. The
three cities of Changshu, Kian, and Kanchow were chosen
as centres from which to itinerate, and although the hard-
ships of living in inns were fully weighed, it was considered
the wisest course to adopt at first. Many tr^dng experiences
were met with in these early efforts, these brethren being
not only turned out of the inns sometimes, but the landlords
also being beaten for having sheltered them. In 1891 a
precarious tenure of premises was obtained in Kian, but the
Chino- Japanese War of 1894-95 was, strange to say, used
of God to break down opposition, and since that time there
has been less unfriendly feeling, as well as fuller opportunities
for work. Of the more recent developments we cannot
speak, save to say that great changes have come over the
whole of this district, and several of those who endured the
hardships of those early years are now reaping the fruit of
their labours.
political agents of the British Government, and they have been allowed
to go to places and to work where a male missionary would have found no
residence whatever. ... In one city we laboured for some years but
could not get near to the people. Two single ladies went there and visited
in the homes of the people, and the change of feeling was very remarkable.
In Lanchowfu in Kansu, Mr. Parker secured a residence outside the city,
but one of our single sisters went there, and she succeeded in renting a
house witiiin the city."
XXVIII
NORTH AMERICA
In the preceding chapter incidental reference has been made
to reinforcements from North America. The story of God's
leadings, which made this possible, must now be more fully
told. From the commencement the basis of the Mission
had been interdenominational, though for the first twenty-
three years the Home organization had centred in Great
Britain alone. In the ^^ear 1888 developments arose, which
resulted in the Mission becoming international. More
than twenty years' experience had proved that members of
all the leading denominations could work harmoniously and
happily together without any friction in regard to de-
nominational questions, so that the Mission had become
an Evangehcal Alhance in miniature. The future was to
prove that Christians of various nationahties could as easily
and as heartily co-operate in the evangehzation of the world.
In this respect the C.I.M. has been permitted to become a
living example of " All one in Christ Jesus." This larger
bond of union was not sought by man, but thrust upon the
Mission by God.^
In the autumn of 1887, Mr. Henry W. Frost, who was
then hving in Attica in Western New York, where he had
the needs of China heavily laid upon his heart, came to
England with the purpose of inviting Mr. Taylor to visit
1 Since these words were written the terrible European War has broken
out. Though most of the leading nations of Europe are represented in
the Mission's ranks, it is still devoutly hoped that the Super-National
basis of the Mission may be maintained.
183
i84 THE THIRD DECADE
America in the hope that he would estabhsh there a branch
of the China Inland Mission. This proposal was unexpected,
and Mr. Taylor, after two earnest conversations with Mr.
Frost on the subject rephed : " The Lord has given me no
light about it. I do not think it is His purpose thus to
extend the work." Mr. Taylor nevertheless promised that
should he be invited to speak at Niagara and Northfield,
he would gladly return to China via America, so as to spend
one or two months in that country. A few weeks later a
request came from Dr. W. J. Erdman, asking him to speak
at the Niagara Conference in the following July ; while a
somewhat similar request came from Mr. D. L. Moody in
regard to the Northfield Convention in August. One
remarkable thing about this was that although Mr. Frost
had written to Mr. Moody, suggesting that Mr. Taylor should
be invited, Mr. Moody's invitation, which had been entrusted
to a relative who was crossing to England, had been given
before Mr. Frost's letter was received.
These invitations were accepted, and on June 23, 1888,
immediately on the conclusion of the General Missionary
Conference in London, Mr. Hudson Taylor, accompanied
by Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Radclif£e and Dr. Howard Taylor,
set sail from Liverpool. After a brief stay at Northfield,
the party proceeded to Niagara, where Mr. Taylor spoke at
the meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, July 18 to 19,
leaving shortly afterwards for Chicago. Messrs. Radcliffe
and Robert P. Wilder remained on at Niagara, however, and
so much was the missionary interest deepened, that before
the close of the Conference funds were placed in the hands
of Mr. Frost, who was one of the Conference Secretaries, for
the support of eight new missionaries in connection with the
C.I.M. This altogether unexpected development at first
much exercised Mr. Taylor's mind. But he soon "gathered "
that the Lord was guiding to the opening up of work in
North America.
'' I had not the most remote idea of our visit to America affecting
the China Inland Mission thus/' wrote Mr. Taylor some time sub-
sequently. " It was a great surprise^ and it led to much prayer that
one might know the Lord's purpose in this deahng. Mr. Radchffe
NORTH AMERICA 185
had remarked to me, and I to him, more than once as we were crossing
the ocean together, that we felt we did not know what God was taking
us to America for, though we felt that we were following His leading ;
and when this remarkable manifestation of interest and desire to help
came, one was thrown very much upon God in prayer, and it was
impressed upon my heart, and upon the hearts of some of my friends,
that if there could be found men and women in America who would
go out to China, the funds so contributed would be a direct link between
the missionaries, and would be likely to deepen the interest in Missions
and to further the interests of the Redeemer's Kingdom. But
I was very much concerned — I might almost use the word
' frightened '—at the thought, for one felt how difficult it might
be, if persons were to come forward and offer themselves, to
so thoroughly become acquainted with them as only to select the
right people."
The guidance of God, however, as shown by the gifts
contributed at Niagara became plainer a month later when
Mr. Taylor visited the second Conference at Northfield, and
as he held meetings at various other centres in the States and
Canada. To have the men and no money, Mr. Taylor said,
would not have perplexed him so much as to have money
and no missionaries, lest the wrong people might be en-
couraged to apply. Yet after prayerful conversation with
a number of earnest Christians, he appealed for workers at the
meetings subsequently held, and the response was such that
Mr. Taylor said, " I saw that God was really working," and
that was all he desired to know.
But the money contributed at Niagara proved — ^like the
loaves and fishes of old — almost inexhaustible. For the
first candidate who offered, Mr. Moody said that he would
provide her outfit and passage money, and the members of
her Church also expressed a desire to support her. For the
second, who had been four years at Northfield, her father
said : "I am not a rich man, but I have saved sufficient
money $250 (gold) to sustain her for the first year. ... No
one else must support my Grace until my own money is
used." Thus again the Niagara contributions could not be
employed. It was the same with the third as well as with
more who followed. " How blessed it is," said Mr. Taylor,
" to deal with God."
i86 THE THIRD DECADE
The letters of this period clearly show that with the
enlargement of the Mission's outlook God also gave enlarge-
ment of heart.
" I was quite melted/' said Mr. Taylor, " by the kindness of beloved
friends to me ; if I had been an old friend or brother, I could not have
been received with more welcome than I was in many places. One's
heart was very much touched, and one felt what a wealth of love and
grace there is in the great Church — greater perhaps than one had ever
conceived before — that after all, all the wide world over, no matter
whether in Africa, in India, in China, or in America, in Canada, in
Scotland or in England, all the Lord's children are children of one
Father, all bound to one great central heart, and that they are indeed
all one in Christ Jesus. It is so glorious to realise the Church
is one. It is not uniformity that we want, but really manifested
heart unity."
By the time Mr. Taylor was ready to start for China,
some forty-two candidates had offered, and of this number
seventeen had been accepted, while it was decided that
fourteen (six men and eight women) should go forward at
once. Before the departure of these friends, Farewell
Meetings marked wdth an unwonted enthusiasm were held.
To quote from Recollections of Reginald Radcliffe, by his
wife :
The proceedings of these farewell meetings of the first band of
American and Canadian missionaries to inland China have, I think,
rarely been equalled for solemn impressiveness and touching pathos. . . .
From Dr. Parson's Church we accompanied them (on September 25)
to the railway station ; and perhaps never has Toronto witnessed such
a scene — from 500 to 1000 people came to see them off. When the
party were settled on board the train, Mr. Radcliffe lifted up his strong
voice and led in a touching prayer for blessing and preservations to
the travellers. Many people followed his words with a loud voice.
There was great emotion. The members of the Y.M.C.A. walked
up the streets of Toronto four abreast singing hymns ; and we waved
our handkerchiefs. Thus ended one of the most interesting eras of
my life. We parted ; but it was to keep tryst at Jesus' feet — they
from the Pacific, we from the Atlantic. We had seen how marvellously
God had opened hearts in America and Canada to Mr. Taylor's appeal
for inland China and to Mr. Radcliffe's thrilHng words on behalf of the
whole heathen world.
NORTH AMERICA 187
This party/ " the American Lammermuir party," sailed
from Vancouver on October 5, 1888, as America's first gift
in connection with the China Inland Mission to the needy
millions of China, and these were the welcome reinforcements
which helped to occupy the stations on the Kwangsin River,
and commenced the pioneering work in other parts of
Kiangsi, to which reference has already been made.
It was of course necessary that the cases of the remaining
candidates should be considered, and this responsible work
was delegated by Mr. Taylor, on the eve of his departure,
to Mr. Frost at Attica, and to Mr. Sandham at Toronto.
One incident may be recorded revealing the guiding hand
of God at this time. While Mr. Taylor and Messrs. Frost
and Sandham were seated together in the Christian Institute
at Toronto, seeking God's guidance as to the future, Mr.
Taylor asked for suggestions as to the names of some
sympathetic friends who could act as members of a pro-
visional Council. Three names were proposed — Dr. Parsons,
Mr. Gooderham, and Mr. Nasmith, and as it was impractic-
able for Mr. Taylor to call upon them, Messrs. Frost and
Sandham agreed to see them personally. What, however,
was their surprise when in walked one of the three, to be
followed a few minutes later by another, while the third
entered shortly afterwards. These three friends had no
idea that Mr. Taylor was there at that time, and two of
them had not entered the building for months.
During the months that followed Mr. Taylor's departure,
God began to wean the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Frost away
from their much loved home at Attica, which had been given
them by their father, and to teach them many personal
lessons of faith and trust in God as Jehovah-Jireh. Previous
to Mr. Frost's visit to England he had given up a lucrative
business for evangelistic work, and his father had generously
undertaken to support him. But now came an unlooked-for
change, for a letter was received from Mr. Frost senior
^ The names of this party which accompanied Mr. Hudson Taylor are :
— The Misses E. M. Lucas, Grace Irvin, S. C. Parker, Cassie Fitzsimons,
Jeannie Monro, J. D. Gardiner, Hattie Turner, Rebecca M'Kenzie ;
Messrs. Wm. S. Home, John Meikle, Wm. M. Souter, George H. Duff,
James Lawson, J. Hamilton Racey.
i88 THE THIRD DECADE
stating that he could no longer continue to minister to their
needs. The test was a real and searching one, for either this
meant going back into business, or going forward into a
fuller trust in God. The latter course was chosen, and
through many varied and heart-searching experiences, which
cannot be detailed, God prepared His servants for the special
work to which He was about to call them.
In the following year, 1889, Mr. Taylor, having returned
from China to England, paid a second visit to America.
Once again he was present at the Niagara Conference in
July and at Northfield in iVugust. He took part also at
meetings in a number of other cities in the States and
Canada. But the principal object of this visit was to meet
the gentlemen who had formed the provisional Council, and
after conference with them to put the work upon a more
permanent basis. Eight half -day meetings with the Council
were held — four at Niagara and four at Toronto — with the
result that a permanent Council ^ was appointed with
Mr. Henry Weston Frost, whom God had been so signally
preparing, as Secretary and Treasurer.
A Home for the accommodation of candidates was taken
at 30 Shuter Street, Toronto, with Offices in the Christian
Institute building on Richmond Street, and Mr. and Mrs.
Frost broke up their home in Attica to take charge of
these the first headquarters of the Mission in Canada. The
liberality shown at Niagara had exceeded that of the pre-
ceding year and the work assumed its more permanently
organized form with every sign of God's favour.
In the year 1891 the growing needs of the Home Depart-
ment made larger premises necessary, and a more com-
modious house, situated at the comer of Church and Charles
Streets, was rented, in which the Home and Offices were
combined, and here the work centred for about eight years.
1 The names of the Members of this Council were : — Hon. S. H. Blake,
Toronto ; Mr. J. R. Cavers, Gait., Ont. ; Rev. W. J. Erdman, D.D.,
Asheville, N.C. ; Mr. Henry W. Frost, Attica, N.Y. ; Mr. Wm. Gooderham,
Toronto ; Mr. J. S. Helmer, Lockport, N.Y. ; Mr. Robert Kilgour, Toronto ;
Hon. and Rev. R. Moreton, Hamilton, Ont. ; Mr. J. D. Nasmith, Toronto ;
Rev. H. M. Parsons, D.D., Toronto; Mr. Ehas Rogers, Toronto; Mr,
Alfred Sandham, Toronto ; Mr. Edmund Savage, Hamilton, Ont. ; Rev.
Robert WaUace, Belleville, Ont.
NORTH AMERICA 189
As time progressed, however, earnest prayer was made for
more suitable and more permanent quarters, and in the
autumn of 1899 a gift of about $5000 (gold) was received
from Mr. Taylor, to whom the money had come as a personal
legacy from his old friend and colleague, Mr. W. T. Berger,
and this gift was generously designated for the purchase of
a permanent Mission Home in Canada. With this donation,
and other specially contributed funds, the Mission was
enabled to secure the commodious premises at the comer of
Church and Wellesley Streets, which have remained as the
Home and Office Centre in Toronto ever since.
Meanwhile, the need of additional helpers for the some-
what rapidly growing work was felt, and in 1893, Mr. Frost
was appointed Home Director in North America, and sub-
sequently Mr. Joshua S. Helmer of Lockport, New York,
who had been a Member of the Council from the beginning,
was appointed the Secretary-Treasurer. To free Mr. Frost
for a wider ministry, Mr. and Mrs. Helmer took over the
charge of the Mission Home in Toronto, where they con-
tinued lovingly to minister to their ever-changing household
for the next twenty years. ^
For some time it had been manifest that a Home Centre
would be needed in the States as well as in Canada, and in
1900, the answer to many prayers came in the offer of a
large and attractive house in Norristown, Pennsylvania, not
far from Philadelphia. This kind offer was gratefully
accepted, and shortly afterwards the house was purchased
by the donor and placed at the disposal of the Mission.
Here Mr. and Mrs. Frost took up their residence, with a
view to opening up more fully work in the States, and this
generous gift of an Eastern home made possible in no small
measure the subsequent developments in and around
Philadelphia.
This Home, however, with all its attractions was found
to be somewhat far removed from the central city, and in
consequence in 1903, Mr. and Mrs. Frost moved to German-
town, a suburb of Philadelphia, where in 1904 two kind
1 Mrs. Helmer died suddenly on June 6, 1913, beloved and mourned
by many.
igo THE THIRD DECADE
friends united in presenting to the Mission the present
premises on School Lane as a permanent Eastern centre.
An Eastern Council was subsequently formed, and still later
Mr. Frederick H. Neale, who had had eight years experience
in the Mission's Offices in Shanghai, was appointed to act
as Secretary. This post he held from the autumn of 1906
to the autumn of 1913, when unfortunately his health made
a prolonged rest necessary. To fill the vacant post, Mr. and
Mrs. William Y. King, who had been assisting at Toronto
for the previous three years, were transferred to German-
town, while Mr. and Mrs. Frederick F. Helmer were appointed
to Toronto to strengthen the hands of their widowed father.
In this chapter some of the more important facts con-
cerning changes of personnel have been briefly outlined up to
the present time, as opportunity may not occur for referring
to this elsewhere. The bond of union formed in 1888 has
strengthened and increased as years have passed,^ which
may be illustrated by the fact that, whereas at first the
financial obligations of Great Britain and America were kept
separate, ere many years had passed all funds were unitedly
administered on the Field, for the labourers, whether from
the old country or the new, being " of one heart and soul,"
did not desire to say " that aught of the things which he
possessed was his own ; but they had all things in common."
^ As we write the North American Contingent on active service numbers
114, while 37 have laid down their lives upon the Field or have died after
returning home.
XXIX
TO EVERY CREATURE
Remarkable as had been the unexpected and unsought- for
developments in North America, they were to prove but the
beginning of a still wider spread of interest in and devotion
to the evangelization of China. The early hopes of and
prayers for a few helpers for the evangelization of Chekiang,
and later for pioneers for the unoccupied provinces of China,
had been abundantly answered, but there could be no resting
in what had been accomplished, while so much remained to
be done ; each success afforded only a better and higher
vantage-ground for an enlarged and clearer vision. The
things which were behind must be forgotten, save as they
encouraged the workers to press forward towards the goal of
a finished work. " The evangelization of the world in this
generation " was becoming the watchword of an ever-
increasing band of men, and the same thought filled the heart
and mind of Mr. Taylor, though more especially with
reference to China, and with a hope that an even shorter
period than a generation would be necessary.
The General Missionary Conference, which had met in
Shanghai in 1877, had appealed to the Christian Church to
evangelize China in the present generation, and many had
hoped it would be accomplished before the close of the
nineteenth century. Yet more than half that time had
elapsed and the last decade was drawing on, and not one
hundredth part of China had been reached with the Good
News of Salvation. Meditating on and praying over these
things, Mr. Taylor, shortly after his return from his second
191
192 THE THIRD DECADE
visit to America, issued in October 1889 a Leaflet entitled :
To Every Creature.
" How are we going to treat the Lord Jesus Christ in reference to
this command ? " wrote Mr. Taylor. " Shall we definitely drop the
title Lord, as appHed to Him, and take the ground that we are quite
wilUng to recognize Him as our Saviour Jesus, so far as the penalty of
sin is concerned, but are not prepared to recognize ourselves as bought
with a price, or Him as having any claim on our unquestioning obedi-
ence ? Shall we say that we are our own masters ? . . . that we will
give Him what we think fit, and obey any of His commands that do
not demand too great a sacrifice ? To be taken to Heaven by Jesus
Christ we are more than willing, but we will not have this Man to reign
over us. . . . Shall it not rather become a holy ambition to all who
have health and youth, to court the Master's approval, and tread in
His steps in seeking to save a lost world ? And shall not Christian
parents encourage their children's enthusiasm, feeling that they have
nothing too precious for their Lord, who gave Himself for them ? "
The Leaflet from which this quotation is taken then
proceeds to treat of the problem and practicability of
speedily evangelizing China. It pointed out that with a
thousand evangelists, each preaching the Gospel to fifty
families a day, every family in China might be reached
within five years. The suggestion was not that these
thousand evangelists should all join the China Inland
Mission, but that all denominations in Great Britain,
America, and elsewhere should respond. The proposal was
submitted to the reader as a subject for earnest prayer,
especially as the great Conference in Shanghai was to meet
in the following May to discuss the division of the Field.
When the Conference did meet, Mr. Taylor preached the
opening sermon, and took as his text : " Whence should we
have so much bread in the wilderness as to fill so great a
multitude." The problem of reaching every creature was
the underlying thought of his discourse upon this important
occasion.
" If," he said, " as an organized Conference we were to set ourselves
to obey the command of our Lord to the full, we should have such an
outpouring of the Spirit, such a Pentecost as the world has not seen
since the Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem. God gives His Spirit
not to those who long for Him, nor to those who pray for Him, nor to
TO EVERY CREATURE 193
those who desire to be filled always, but He does give His Holy Spirit
to them that obey Him. And if, as an act of obedience, we were to
determine that every district, every town, every village, every hamlet
in this land should hear the Gospel, and that speedily ; and if we were
to set about doing it, I believe that the Spirit would come down with
such mighty power that we should find loaves and fishes multiplying
on every hand — we do not know whence or how. We should find the
fire spreading from missionary to flock, and the Chinese Christians all
on fire setting their neighbours on fire ; and our Chinese fellow-Chris-
tians and the entire Church of God would be blessed. God gives His
Holy Spirit to them that obey Him."
The thought of sending out a United Appeal for a thousand
new evangelists was earnestly commended to the Conference,
and was ultimately adopted. It read as follows: —
We do now appeal to you, the Protestant Churches of Christian
lands, to send to China in response to these calls
One Thousand Men
within five years from this time.
We make this appeal in behalf of three hundred millions of un-
evangelized heathen; we make it with all the earnestness of our
whole hearts, as men overwhelmed with the magnitude and responsi-
bility of the work before us ; we make it with unwavering faith in the
power of a risen Saviour to call men into His vineyard, and to open
the hearts of those who are His stewards to send out and support
them, and we shall not cease to cry mightily to Him that He will do
this thing, and that our eyes may see it.
On behalf of the Conference,
J. Hudson Taylor.
Committee
Wm. Ashmore.
H. Corbett.
C. W. Mateer.
LC. F. Reid.
Shanghai, May 1890.
Yet before this official Appeal had been issued, Mr.
Taylor's earlier Leaflet had had a wide circulation which
had begun to bear fruit. In Sweden and Norway at an
even earlier date the Swedish Mission in China and the
Norwegian China Mission had been organized, and the first
thing that Mr. Taylor did after the issue of his Leaflet was
o
194 THE THIRD DECADE
to respond to a long-standing invitation to visit these
countries.
On November 3, 1889, Mr. Hudson Taylor, accompanied
by Dr. Howard Taylor, arrived at Gotenberg, where they
were met by Mr. Holmgren, the Secretary of the Swedish
Mission in China, who had arranged the whole of their tour,
and who was to be their genial companion and interpreter
throughout. Twenty-four towns were visited, including
Stockholm, Upsala and Christiania, and some fifty or sixty
thousand persons were addressed, even Queen Sophia
graciously inviting Mr. Taylor to a private audience in
Stockholm. " In Scandinavia," wrote Mr. Taylor, " there
are surely one hundred of the thousand additional missionary
evangelists needed to carry the Gospel to every family
in China." On all hands there were unmistakable
evidences of spiritual blessing, and of a deepened interest
in the work of evangehzing China, for which the two
Missions associated with the C.I.M. had been brought into
being. 1
During the same autumn a remarkable revival broke
out in Elberfeld and Barmen in Rhineland, Germany,
through the visit of the Rev. F. Franson, which led to the
formation of the German China AUiance Mission during the
following year. Mr. Franson, who was bom in Sweden in
1852, was a man of apostolic zeal and fervour. At the age
of twenty-three he had joined Mr. Moody in his work, and
had travelled for some six years as an evangelist in the
United States, after which time he engaged in extensive
evangehstic work in many parts of Europe. In the year
1888, he visited Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany,
and about this time became deeply interested in the cause of
Christ abroad. The reading of Mr. Taylor's Leaflet To
Every Creature fired his heart with an intense enthusiasm,
which kindled the flame of sacred love in many churches in
Europe and America.
In the meetings 'held jat Barmen, to quote the first letter
1 The Swedish Mission in China in January 1915 had fifty-one workers
on the Field, and the Norwegian Mission in China had ten workers. For
details concerning the Associate Missions see Appendix I., p. 357.
TO EVERY CREATURE 195
addressed by the newly-formed German China AlHance
Mission to the London Council :
There has been told of the needs of China, and of the Appeal for
one thousand workers by our dear brother Hudson Taylor. Hearts
were opened and with them the hands, and already several hundred
marks have been given for the evangelization of China.
It v^as in consequence of this movement that a Council
v/as formed, and Messrs. Franson and Emmanuel Olsson
came over to England to lay their plans before the Council
in London. The result was a happy association between
these Christians in Germany and the China Inland Mission,
and the first party, with Mr. Olsson as leader, reached
Shanghai on December 3, 1890.^
But Mr. Franson's zeal was not satisfied with what had
been accomplished in Europe, and so in the autumn of 1890
he started for North America, with the purpose of stirring
up the Scandinavian Churches in that Continent to a realiza-
tion of their duty to the heathen, and for two years he
travelled from place to place with this one object in view.
The result was the formation of the Scandinavian Alliance
Mission, with its headquarters in Chicago, which Mission
has sent forth workers to China, Japan, Mongolia, India,
Tibet, Africa, and South America. Within three and a half
months of Mr. Franson's landing in America, a band of no
less than thirty-five men and women of earnest purpose had
offered for China. The support of these friends had been
guaranteed by the Scandinavian Churches which sent them
forth, and more than five thousand dollars had been handed
to Mr. Franson towards the general expenses.
Tuesday morning, February 17, i89i,was a memorable
day indeed, when this the largest missionary party ever
known to arrive in China landed at Shanghai, and presented
themselves at the Home of the China Inland Mission,
especially as they brought the news that another party of
fifteen more were on their way, and would probably arrive
the following week. This second party, which made fift}^
1 The German China Alliance in January 191 5 had thirty-seven workers
on the Field. Their work is located in western Chekiang and south-east
Kiangsi.
196 THE THIRD DECADE
in all, eventually arrived on March 10, a remarkable
Scandinavian contribution towards the desired thousand.^
" We have the inexpressible joy/' wrote Mr. Franson in the letter
of introduction brought by the first party, "to be able to send thirty-
five Mission-Evangehsts to help to fill out the number of one thousand
according to the call of our dearly-beloved brother Hudson Taylor. . . .
We did not succeed in bringing so many from Germany (at once at
least) as we had expected. The success here is so much the greater. . . .
Not only have these thirty-five their support secured, but another
expedition of some ten will leave Omaha twelve days later than this
one. We arranged it so that we do not send any who has not been
used of God to blessing for souls. These thirty-five have been out
on missionary tours lasting with some of them since last autumn. . . .
The intention of this Mission is to be associated with the China Inland
Mission, just as Mr. Folke (of the Swedish Mission in China) and Mr.
Olsson (of the German China Alliance) are. . . . With the best thanks
for all the kindness shown to us Scandinavians of the different Missions,
as well as the German party, and hoping that you will extend the same
fraternal feelings and sympathy to our present party. — I remain, yours
sincerely in the Lord's Service, F. Franson.
" Omaha, Nebraska, January 17, 1891."
That the Mission was able to extend hospitahty in
Shanghai to so large a party was only another illustration
of the guiding hand of God by whom aU the body is fitly
framed and knit together. A few years earlier it would
not have been possible. From November 1873, when the
Mission's first Business Centre was opened in Shanghai, up
to February 1890, the rented premises ^ had been far from
satisfactory or commodious, and yet for those occupied
from the years 1885 to 1890 a costly rental of £30 per month
had had to be paid, of which sum nearly one half was kindly
contributed by a member of the Mission. In February 1890,
1 " God is working so wonderfully we need to take the shoes from off
our feet and to walk very softly before Him." — J. Hudson Taylor, in a
letter dated February 28, iSgi.
■i From November 1873 to September 1876, the C.I.M. premises were
on the Broadway. From the latter date the C.I.M. station was vacant
until April 1878, when premises were rented on the bank of the Soochow
Creek. In 1880, when this house was pulled down, the Mission moved to
Seward Road until a larger house was taken in Szechuan Road in 1884.
In 1885 two adjoining houses were rented in the Yuen Ming Yuen buildings,
until the Mission moved, in February 1890, to its present quarters.
TO EVERY CREATURE 197
however, through the munificence of a devoted servant of
God who had borne the whole expense of the site and
buildings, the Mission entered into large and well-adapted
premises of its own, which with some more recent additions
it occupies to-day.
Few gifts, if any, have been more serviceable to the work
than this Compound in Shanghai, not only as a centre for
the offices of the headquarter's staff, but as a Home for
missionaries arriving in or leaving China, and for a thousand
other purposes inseparable from the well-being of the work.
Here, then, there was room for the welcome of this remark-
able contingent of fifty new workers, even at a time when
the China Council was in session, and when other parties
from America, Australasia, and Great Britain were expected.
Truly it was an evidence that He who sends forth the men
and women does not forget v/hat things they have need of.
While the story of the division of the Field and the location
of all these new workers must be reserved for a special
chapter, it may not be out of place to add a few more details
concerning the Shanghai Compound, for if these premises
proved so invaluable to the work in 1891, what have they
not been in more recent years. It is estimated to-day, with
the enhanced value of property in Shanghai, that these
premises save the Mission a rent of no less than ;fiooo a
year. Here, when the Chefoo Schools break up, or re-
assemble, parents will come either to welcome or send off
their children, making for a few days a sudden increase in
the household of approximately one hundred persons, young
and old together. Here, during the Boxer crisis or the more
recent Revolution, a safe refuge has been found for many
of those compelled to leave their stations, and sometimes
as many as two hundred have been accommodated during
these times of pressure. This does not mean that there
are all the comforts of home-hfe for all these friends, for
there are only thirty-one bedrooms available for those not
on the permanent staff ; but to the missionary accustomed
to Chinese inns, a bed on the floor — and he generally carries
his own bedding — in the hall, offices, or attics, is gratefully
welcomed when others cannot be had. To give some
198 THE THIRD DECADE
figures, gathered during the writer's recent visit to China —
In January 191 2, when the Revolution was at its height, and
the children of the missionaries were on their way to the
Chef 00 Schools, 190 persons stayed in the Home, and for the
twelve months from October 191 1 to September 1912, which
was a period of considerable unrest, the aggregate of those
who passed through this Home in Shanghai — many, of
course, more than once — was no less than 1333.
Many and many times the story has been told of how
God has supplied the needed funds for the work of the
Mission. No less wonderful is the way He has provided,
often by special gifts, the premises needed for so large an
organization. And the premises at Shanghai are one of the
most remarkable of the standing monuments of a Heavenly
Father's care. At the entrance is the following inscription :
" These premises have been erected to the Glory
OF God and the furtherance of His Kingdom in China,
WITH Funds specially contributed for the purpose."
" May God's Glory^ and the furtherance of His Kingdom be ever
our aim, and no less object,'' wrote Mr. Taylor after first entering this
Home. " I feel glad/' he added, " that the C.I.M. was not even
mentioned in the inscription."
The Fiiist Austhalasian Pakty.
Top Row.—Miss Aspinall (Mrs. Allen), [Montasn Beauchainp], F. Burdon, A. S. Derenisli, Miss E. Fysh.
Centre Row.— Miss Lloyd (Mrs. Dr. Williams), Miss Reed (Mrs. Fvsh) [J. Hudson Taylor], Miss Steel (Mrs.
Goold), Miss M. E. Bootli.
Front Eoiv. — O. Burgess, Miss Sorenson (Mrs. Strong), A. C. Rogers, Miss F. Box.
To face ixige 1 99.
XXX
AUSTRALASIA
The wave of missionary enthusiasm which swept over
North America, Scandinavia, and Germany was almost
simultaneously felt in Australasia. This was surely no
accidental coincidence, but only another proof that
He who had bidden His disciples pray the Lord of the
Harvest to thrust forth labourers, was Himself hearing
and answering prayer. While the Leaflet To Every
Creature was being written in England, the hearts of some
of God's servants in Australasia were being burdened with
China's need. To quote the words of the Rev. Alfred
Bird, the first Honorary Secretary of the C.I.M. Council in
Melbourne :
Towards the close of 1889 the hearts of four ministers of the Gospel
in Melbourne — two Episcopahans (the Rev. H. B. Macartney and
the Rev. Charles H. Parsons), one Presbyterian (Rev. Lockhart
Morton), and one Baptist (Rev. Alfred Bird) — were stirred in a very
special manner to consider and pray over the awful needs of
China as the greatest heathen continent in the world, and the
heathen continent geographically and commercially the nearest to
Australasia.
Although these ministers were close personal friends,
the conviction that the Church of Christ in Australasia ought
to assist in sending the Gospel to China was not a conviction
caught from one another, or produced as the result of mutual
conference, but one that came upon them separately and
simultaneously. One of the four, the Rev. Charles H.
199
200 THE THIRD DECADE
Parsons, volunteered to go to China, and after some corre-
spondence, he was accepted by the Rev. H. B. Macartney,
whom Mr. Taylor had empowered to act on his behalf in the
matter. Without delay Mr. Parsons sailed, and reached
Shanghai on April 29, 1890, just before the great Missionary
Conference.
The three remaining brethren met on several occasions
to consider how best the God-inspired desire for the evangeli-
zation of China could be fulfilled, and concluded that the
faith principles and interdenominational character of the
C.LM. made it an agency with which the Churches in
Australasia could happily co-operate. When it came to
their knowledge that Mr. Philip Kitchen — subsequently the
Treasurer of the Mission in Australasia — was an old and
tried friend of the Mission, they took him into their con-
sultations. The result was that a letter was sent to Mr.
Taylor, giving some account of what had happened, and
naming the brethren interested.
In the interval between the sending of this letter and
the receiving of Mr. Taylor's reply. Miss Mary Reed of
Tasmania, who had shortly before been invalided home
from China, was invited to Victoria for the purpose
of holding a series of drawing-room meetings, which were
attended with considerable blessing. Before these meet-
ings in Victoria she had been similarly used in Tasmania,
in fact so much so that Mr. George Soltau, not many days
before Mr. Parsons had sailed from Melbourne, had written
to Mr. Taylor proposing the formation of an Australasian
Council.
It was abundantly evident that God was leading the
Mission towards new developments, and Mr. Taylor, after
he had had the benefit of personal conversation with Mr.
Parsons in Shanghai, cabled to Australia authorizing the
formation of a Local Council. This cable was dispatched
on May 21, the day after the close of the Shanghai Con-
ference, and Mr. Taylor's own birthday. On the following
day a meeting was held in one of the rooms of the Colhns
Street Baptist Church, Melbourne, to form the Australasian
Council of the China Inland Mission. The Rev. H. B.
AUSTRALASIA 201
Macartney presided, and the following with their Chairman
constituted this first Council :
Rev. Samuel Chapman, Rev. W. L. Morton,
Rev. Alfred Bird, Mr. Philip Kitchen,
Rev. D. O'Donnell, Pastor George Soltau,
and Dr. Flett.
Mr. Bird was appointed Honorary Secretary, and Mr. Philip
Kitchen Treasurer. At this first meeting the names of
e'ight candidates were mentioned as having applied to go to
China, four of whom were afterwards accepted and sent.
Towards the close of July Mr. Hudson Taylor, accom-
panied by Mr. Montagu Beauchamp, sailed from Shanghai
for Australia, with the purpose of meeting this newly-formed
Council and more thoroughly organizing the work. Meetings
were held at Newcastle, Sydney, Geelong, Melbourne, Caul-
field, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston, and other centres, and
Mr. Taylor asked, wdth the Shanghai Conference appeal for
a thousand workers still fresh in his mind, that Australasia
might send out a hundred. As had been the case in North
America and elsewhere, the faith and courage of many
Christians were stimulated by the meetings held, and over
sixty candidates offered for the Field. Of these eleven were
accepted, four from Victoria, three from Tasmania, three
from South Australia, and one from New South Wales.
This group of workers constituted the first Australasian
contingent in connection with the C.I.M., and sailed from
Sydney in company with Mr. Taylor on November 20.
They were followed in January of the next year by a band of
three men, and in the following March by a party of ladies,
under the escort of Mr. and Mrs. John Southey, by which
time all the Colonies except Western Australia were repre-
sented in the Mission.
Auxiliary Councils had been formed by Mr. Taylor at
Sydney and Brisbane, and similar Councils were subsequently
estabhshed at Adelaide, as well as at Auckland and Dunedin
in New Zealand, the two latter as one result of a visit by
Mr. George Nicoll. Under the helpful influences of the
devoted Honorary Secretary, Mr. Bird, the work was both
202 THE THIRD DECADE
developed and consolidated until his retirement in 1893.
In 1895, after the return of Mr. Thomas Selkirk to Bhamo,
who during 1894-95 had been Acting-Secretary, Mr. Charles
Fletcher Whitridge, who had been Honorary Secretary of
the Adelaide Auxiliary Council from its commencement, was
appointed Secretary at Melbourne, which post he held
until his lamented death from typhoid fever on April
24, 1906.
On September 26, 1899, ^^- Hudson Taylor, this time
accompanied by his wife, left for his second visit to
Australasia, and on arriving at Brisbane, heard the good
news that the last of the Hundred prayed for for China had
crossed him on the way. Considerable changes had taken
place in the personnel of the Council during these years, and
at the Tenth Annual Meeting, held on the tenth anniversary
of the first Council Meeting, it was reported that only one
of the original Council still remained with them. Mr. Philip
Kitchen, their first Treasurer, who was said to have hved
for the Mission next to Christ, had passed to his Heavenly
reward ; the Rev. Samuel Chapman, prince of Australian
Preachers, had gone to be with His Master ; Mr. Macartney
and others were scattered in the Lord's Service in different
parts of the earth, but the blessing which had been given was
not to be traced to the ordinary sources of human success,
but was the result of the faithfulness of an unchangeable
God. During Mr. Taylor's first visit many persons had
thought that the appeal for a Hundred was a tremendous
request to make, but at these Annual Meetings it was reported
that altogether one hundred and one persons, forty-five men
and fifty-six women, had gone forth during the ten years, out
of about four hundred applications. Twelve of these had
left the Mission for different reasons, and four had died, one
of whom was WilHam S. Fleming, the first C.I.M. martyr.
In December 1908, Mr. John Southey,^ who, after a brief
experience in China, had for some years been the leader of
1 Mr. Southey had been Vicar of Ipswich, Queensland, from May 1887
to March 1891. Hearing of Mr. Taylor's visit to Melbourne in 1890, he
invited him to call at Brisbane and Ipswich on his way back to China.
Mr. Taylor replied saying that it would be impossible as he was fully
AUSTRALASIA 203
the work in Australasia, was, with the approval of the
representatives of the Mission in the various States of
Austraha and New Zealand, appointed by Mr. D. E.
Hoste as Home Director for Australasia, Mr. James H.
Todd being his colleague as Secretary, and Dr. J. J.
Kitchen, the esteemed and honoured Treasurer. We must
not attempt to follow in detail the varied development of
the work in Australasia. Suffice it to say that the work
has been prospered and blessed, so that the present Aus-
tralasian contingent amounts to 124 workers, of whom 52
are men and 72 women. ^
We must return now in thought to the period referred to
at the beginning of this chapter. During the years 1888 to
1891 the Mission had enjoyed a period of unprecedented
expansion through the welcome reinforcements received
from North America, Australasia, and the Associate Scandi-
navian and German Missions. One hundred new workers
from Great Britain in 1887 was a great thing, but so far as
China was concerned the five months from October 18, 1890,
to March 21, 189 1, was more remarkable still, for during this
short period no less than 126 new workers were welcomed
by the Mission in Shanghai, all of whom the Mission was able
to receive in the new Shanghai premises.
Yet let not the reader think that all was smooth and
easy sailing, for seldom has the Mission passed through
stormier or more troubled waters. The year 1891 was
memorable for the prevalence of riots, especially in the
Yangtze Valley ; for great pohtical disquiet, and for the
threat enings of war. There was much sickness, and some
of the Mission's most valued workers were removed by
engaged up to the day of departure. A widely-extended Strike, however,
delayed all shipping, and made this unpremeditated \dsit possible, and it
was this visit which led to Mr. Southey joining the ^Mission.
1 In April 1891 an Occasional Paper as supplement to the Southern
Cross was published, and the first issue of the Australasian China's Millions
commenced in January 1893. The first offices were at 19 Queen's Walk,
opened in November 1893. These were vacated, however, in December
1897 for the present quarters at 267 Collins Street. The first Mission
Home was in the suburb of Hawksburn. This was subsequently sold, by
permission of the generous donor, and a larger and more commodious
Home secured at Coppin's Grove, Hawthorn. In 1906 an Auxiliary
Office was opened in Sydney.
204 THE THIRD DECADE
death, 1 to which trials may be added unusually prolonged
financial straitness, and both private and public criticism
of the work. What all the strain meant, both to the workers
and leaders, can hardly be better conveyed to the reader than
by the following extract from a semi-private letter written
by Mr. Taylor at Shanghai in June 1891 :
In any case, we are the servants of the living God, and He is able
to protect, or to give grace to suffer ; and it is well that He is the
living God, and that we are His servants and know it. Even you,
dear Mr. Howard, can scarcely realize what it is to be out here, to
know and love our dear workers, to hear of their sorrows and diffi-
culties, their disappointments and their strifes ; of sickness here
needing arrangements for succour if possible, receiving telegrams
asking for direction in peril, or telling it may be of death ; accounts
coming in of massacre and arson, and all the untold incidents of our
ever varying experience — not to speak of the ordinary responsibilities
and the pecuniary claims of a Mission now approaching 500 in number.
There is just one way to avoid being overwhelmed, to bring every-
thing, as it arises, to our Master, and He does help and He does not
misunderstand.
It is not altogether to be wondered at that the adversary
was making a hard set against the work, for following upon
this period of rapid expansion came a time of quite un-
wonted blessing. Many of the workers upon the Field were
led to seek the fulness of the Spirit, and not a few of the
members of the Mission still date from that period an entry
upon a deeper and fuller spiritual experience. Even the
meetings of the China Council were suspended for special
prayer. The Minute for April 16, 1892, reads :
1 Herbert L. Norris, the beloved Headmaster of the Chefoo Boys' School,
died on September 27, 1888, from hydrophobia incurred through the bite
of a mad dog when he was protecting the scholars under his care.
Adam Dorward, the Superintendent of the work in Hunan, died on
October 2, 1888, after having devoted eight years to pioneer work in
Hunan.
George Stott, who opened Wenchow in 1867, built up a strong station,
and laboured there for twenty-three years. He died on April 23, 1889.
Mrs. Meadows, one of the Lanitnermuir party, died November 3, 1890.
Dr. James Cameron, the great pioneer- traveller, died on August 14,
1892.
Only a few names can be mentioned here, and these are the senior
workers.
AUSTRALASIA 205
Instead of meeting for conference, the China Council united with
the members of the Mission in Shanghai in seeking for themselves,
the whole Mission in China, and the Home Councils, the filling of the
Spirit.
And these prayers, as has been already indicated, were
not in vain.
XXXI
DIVIDING THE FIELD
To readers of the Book of Joshua, who are unfamihar with
the geography and topography of Palestine, the details of
the division of the land among the various tribes, accom-
panied with all the particulars of borders and cities, may
not be interesting reading. The arrangements, however,
were necessary and essential to good government, and the
same is true of the Mission-fields of the world. The measure
of our interest in such geographical divisions will generally
be gauged by our knowledge of the countries concerned, and
lest a multiplicity of detail should weary the reader, only
the bare outline of important divisions of territory will be
referred to in this chapter.
The rapid growth of the Mission — the constitution of
which is interdenominational rather than undenominational
— accompanied as it had been by large reinforcements from
different countries, soon raised the important question of
special spheres of service. Though it is required of all who
join the Mission that they shall be able to have fellowship
with members of Protestant denominations other than their
own, and though it is recognized that it is not desirable that
those features of a particular denomination which are due
to social, political, and other national influences at home,
should be repeated on the Field, the policy of the Mission
affords scope for the development on evangelical lines of
each and all of the different Protestant denominations. In
this way the C.I.M. seeks to be the servant and helper of
each and all the Churches, and affords an outlet for evangelical
206
DIVIDING THE FIELD 207
workers belonging to all denominations, many of whom
possibly might otherwise be precluded from engaging in
organized work in China.
In addition to the necessity of grouping workers with
denominational preferences together, there were other
problems arising from Associate workers coming from
different countries, speaking different languages, having
independent financial arrangements, and responsible to
separate Home organizations. To meet the varying situa-
tions thus occasioned, a division of the Field had to be faced
as the need arose.
In the year 1886, five members of the Cambridge Band,
Messrs. Cassels, Beauchamp, Studd, and Cecil and Arthur
Polhill visited the province of Szechwan, in which there were
then only nine missionary workers. In October of the
following year the Rev. W. W. Cassels received from Dr.
George Moule, who as Bishop in Mid-China had nominal
Episcopal jurisdiction over Szechwan, a license to take
charge of the work in the Paoning district, in which work
he was joined by Messrs. Arthur Polhill, Montagu
Beauchamp, and others who desired to work in connection
with the Church of England.
To facilitate this arrangement, eastern Szechwan was
allotted to them as their particular sphere of service.
The Kialing River, which enters the Yangtze at Chung-
king, was taken as the boundary, and all Szechwan east
of this became known as the C.I.M. Church of England
sphere.
In the year 1892, the Church Missionary Society responded
to the importunate requests of the Rev. J. Heywood Hors-
burgh, and sent out a band of men and women under his
leadership, which band became closely identified with these
Church of England workers in Szechwan, especially during
the early years. In 1894 these C.M.S. workers were enabled
to occupy five cities within a district lying to the west of
Paoning, and this district, extending to the borders of Tibet,
is known as the C.M.S. sphere in Szechw^an. By this time
Bishop Moule had given licenses to three or four Church of
England members of the C.I.M., and as he found himself
2o8 THE THIRD DECADE
unable to visit a part of his diocese two thousand miles away,
both he and the C.M.S. at home addressed the Archbishop
of Canterbury suggesting a sub-division of his diocese. The
man who approved himself to them as the most suitable for
the new office thus formed was the Rev. W. W. Cassels, with
the result that the C.M.S. in the most friendly and cordial
manner approached the C.LM. to see if such a proposal would
be approved. As an illustration of. the spirit which both
prompted this approach and has governed all relationships
since, we cannot do better than quote one paragraph from
the C.M.S. official letter on this subject.
" It is indeed/' wrote the Rev. B. Baring-Gould, the Secretary of
the C.M.S. under date of July 12, 1895, " a comfort for us to know
that you will join your prayers with ours that this scheme, if carried
out, may be overruled for the deepening and extending of the Church
of Christ in western China ; and that the sevenfold gifts of the Holy
Ghost may be vouchsafed in rich abundance to him who, as we trust,
will be called of God to exercise so momentous and blessed an influence
over the infant Church in western China, and that, as we trust, for
many years to come."
The C.M.S. guaranteed the Episcopal stipend, the C.LM.
heartily approved of the nomination, and Archbishop Benson,
with warm interest and " with all his usual graciousness,"
appointed the C.LM. leader in Szechwan to the new
Bishopric. The first public announcement, so Dr. Eugene
Stock tells us, was made at the great Saturday Missionary
Meeting at Keswick, and drew forth much prayerful
sympathy and interest, and on October 18, 1895, the Rev.
W. W. Cassels was consecrated as the first Bishop of the
Diocese of Western China. A week later he sailed for
this far - distant sphere of service, and from Shanghai
addressed a characteristic letter to the missionary workers
in his new diocese, headed with these words : "I am but
a little child " ; " Jesus called a little child unto Him,
and set him in the midst " ; "A little child shall lead
them."
Bishop Cassels still remains a member of the C.LM.,
though as Bishop he is also upon the C.M.S. roll of mission-
aries, and in him the Mission has a unique and valued hnk
DIVIDING THE FIELD
209
with our brethren of another Society. Loyal to his con-
victions as a Churchman, he illustrates in a peculiar degree
the possibility of that motto : " All one in Christ Jesus,"
for which the C.LM. seeks to stand. How truly he is in
sympathy with the C.LM. lines is shown by the following
sentences taken from an address given in England shortly
before his consecration.
Speaking upon one of the C.LM. mottoes " Ebenezer,"
he said :
There is the Hitherto of Blessing. God has blessed us as a Mission ;
He has blessed our leaders ; He has blessed our organization ; and I
should be robbing God of His glory if I did not testify that He has
been blessing me as an individual. . . . Again, there is the Hitherto
of Helping. I wonder if I may stop to draw back the curtain for a
moment that God may be glorified. Take one instance. Suppose
you were just about to be married, and suddenly you were robbed
of your silver and the greater part of your clothing. You would
consider yourself in rather an uncomfortable predicament. But
supposing that very night you received a cheque in a most unusual
and exceptional manner, sent off weeks before, would you not say that
God was taking care of you, and perhaps wanted to provide for you
that new outfit, on such an occasion, which you had denied yourself ?
That, at any rate, is what we said. Or again, supposing that your
funds had come to an end, and from day to day you cast yourself
upon the Lord with prayer and fasting, with a God-given confidence
and holy joy, no one but He knowing your circumstances, and suppose
that the day before some special amount had to be met you received
the exact sum put into your hands in a most exceptional manner,
would not a thrill of gratitude go through you, as you recognized God's
hand ? That, at any rate, was the case with me.
Without following in such detail the development of
denominational districts elsewhere, it may perhaps suffice
to indicate that the Mission has arranged for a Methodist
district in Yunnan for those who desire to work upon
Methodist lines, and Presbyterian districts in east Chekiang,
north Anhwei, and north-west Hunan, this later district
being opened by the Rev. George Hunter, a Scotch Presby-
terian minister, as will be related more fully in Chapter
XXXV. on the Opening of Hunan.
We must now turn to consider those divisions of territory
p
210 THE THIRD DECADE
connected with the Associate Missions. In the early summer
of 1894 Mr. Hudson Taylor felt that certain problems which
were threatening the usefulness and very existence of some
of the Associate Missions made it necessary for him, despite
the summer heat, to visit without delay some of the stations
inland. In consequence, he and his wife, accompanied by
Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor and Mr. J. J. Coulthard, left
Hankow on May 22. The first stage, a distance of 270
miles to Chowkiakow in Honan, was traversed by means of
barrows, from which station the party took carts to Sianfu,
the capital of Shensi, nearly 500 miles to the north-west.
This city was reached on June 26, and an important Con-
ference was held with the members of the Scandinavian
Alliance Mission, which Conference, among other things, led
to a demarkation of their sphere of service. Up to this
time some of the workers of this Mission had been located in
the north, some in Chekiang, and others in Kiangsi. Now
it was arranged that a district extending from Sianfu to the
north-west, including the adjacent parts of eastern Kansu,
was to be considered as apportioned to them. It was agreed
that the workers still resident in the south should be given
the opportunity of coming north, and this transfer of workers
took place during the following year, when Mr. Franson
personally visited China.
From Sianfu Mr. Taylor and party crossed over into
Shansi, the station of Yiincheng being reached on July 10.
What such a journey meant in the height of summer may be
gathered from the fact that at times the thermometer stood
at 120° F. in the carts in which the party travelled, with
the result that Mr. Taylor was for a time seriously indis-
posed. At Yiincheng, the centre of the Swedish Mission
in China, a two days' Conference was held, when it was
agreed that that Mission should work in the ten Hsiens of
Tungchowfu in Shensi, and in the six Hsiens of Puchowfu
and four Hsiens of Haichow in Shansi. The work of this
Mission, however, subsequently spread across the Yellow
River into the north-west of Honan, until their field has now
become so enlarged as to include 38 Hsien districts in the
three provinces of Shensi, Shansi, and Honan.
DIVIDING THE FIELD 211
From Yiincheng, Mr. Taylor proceeded north, holding a
Conference at Pingyangfu on July 17, when a company of
thirty-five missionaries were gathered together. Memorable
visits were also paid to the home of Pastor Hsi, and to other
stations on the line of route along the great North Road,
some of the results of which were that the Mission decided
to retire from its stations outside the northern arm of the
Great Wall in favour of the Christian Missionary Alliance,
which was working there and expected large reinforcements.
This Mission, however, suffered so severely through the
Boxer outbreak a few years later, that it was not able to
reoccupy this territory, which subsequently became the
sphere of the Swedish Alliance Mission associated with the
C.I.M.
Another issue was that the members of the Swedish
Holiness Union expressed their desire to concentrate their
efforts upon the district between the two arms of the Great
Wall in Shansi. This proposal was favourably considered,
though it was not actually made operative until Mr. Taylor
visited Sweden two years later. Among other results of this
journey and a subsequent visit to the provinces, new arrange-
ments were made for the superintendence of the work in
parts of Shansi and Chihli by Mr. D. E. Hoste and Mr.
Bagnall respectively, and Mr. Botham was appointed as
Assistant Superintendent to help Mr. Easton in Shensi and
eastern Kansu. Though it belongs to a much later period,
it is well not to leave these northern provinces without
mentioning that the Norwegian Mission in China, also
associated with the C.I.M. , has had its sphere located in the
north-west mountain district of Shansi, and the Norwegian
Alliance Mission has made the city of Lungchiichai in
Shensi the centre of its operations.
In the south of China, a special district in Chekiang,
with Chuchow for its centre, had been allocated to the
German China Alliance in 1893, and six years later, owing
to the growth of the work of this Mission, its sphere was
increased by the addition of another contiguous district
across the border of the province in the south-east of Kiangsi.
Later still it was decided that the Liebenzell Mission should
212 THE THIRD DECADE
be located in Hunan, which Mission is now responsible, so
far as the CJ.M. is concerned, for the greater part of that
province. The details of this, however, will be reserved
to another chapter speaking more fully of work in that
province.
THE FOURTH DECADE
1895-1905
Chap. 32. The Wrath of Man.
^^. Newington Green.
34. The Chefoo Schools.
35. The Opening of Hunan.
36. Among the Tribes.
37. The Boxer Crisis.
38. Partakers of the Afflictions of the Gospel.
39. Rebuilding the Wall.
21:3
I hold not my life of any account, as dear unto myself, so that I may
accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord
Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.
Sr. Paul.
But I do humbly conceive that when we devote ourselves to missionary
work, we should lay our all, yea, and our lives too, upon the missionary
altar ; and then come joy, come sorrow ; come success, come disappoint-
ment ; come sickness, come health ; come life, come death ; all, and
everything, shall be a sweet privilege in the service of such a Master as
Jesus Christ.
Rev. Samuel Dyer.
O that I had a martyr's heart, if not a martyr's death and a martyr's
crown !
J. Hudson Taylor.
XXXII
THE WRATH OF MAN
No period of China's history is more pregnant with moment-
ous events than the new decade upon which the Mission
entered in 1895. Three times since the death of Dr. Robert
Morrison in 1834, China had been engaged in war with
Foreign Powers, namely, during the Opium War of 1840,
the Arrow War of i860, and the War with France in
1884. Each of these terrible occasions had been used by
God, who maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, to open
more fully the doors of China to the Gospel. Yet during
the more than fifty odd years which had elapsed between
the first of these wars in 1840 and the opening of the new
decade of which we now desire to speak, events had moved
but slowly. Chinese opposition, it is true, had reluctantly
yielded before the force majeure of Western Powers, but
after each conflict China had sought to settle down again
into her former self-complacent ways.
With the year 1895, however, a new era dawned in which
history was to march forward with an almost incredible
rapidity. This change dates from China's war with Japan,
when China's pride and self-confidence were to be rudely
shaken by the crushing defeat she experienced at the hands
of her hitherto much -despised island neighbour. And
this war was only the prelude of more far-reaching troubles,
for China's humiliation was followed by widespread riots,
by sad massacres, by the seizure of Chinese territory by
Foreign Powers, by the coup d'etat of 1898, by the Boxer
crisis of 1900, and finally by the terrific war, fought upon
215
2i6 THE FOURTH DECADE
Chinese soil, between Russia and Japan, which was to
usher in a new epoch in the history of the world.
With the immediate cause of the war between China
and Japan we have no concern here. The conflict opened
at sea on July 25, 1894, and practically closed by the fall
of Weihaiwei in February 1895, after the total destruction
of the Chinese Fleet and the capture of Port Arthur. This
humiliating and thorough defeat by the Japanese fairly
staggered China, and compelled her to face the facts of
modern life as she had never done before.
During these months of strife, missionary work had
continued throughout the greater part of the country
without much let or hindrance,^ but with the disbanding
of the Chinese soldiery and the slow awakening of the
people to the real facts of their defeat — for false victories
had at first been sedulously circulated — serious disturbances
broke out. The first outbreaks were in the Far West, and
possibly were but indirectly connected with the war. On
May 28, 1895, the Canadian Methodist Mission premises,
in the capital of Szechwan, were attacked and destroyed,
and on the following day the remaining Protestant and
Roman Catholic Missions in the same city shared the same
fate. As the news of these riots spread, it was like a spark
to gunpowder, for rioting of a more or less serious nature
speedily followed in Kwanhsien, Kiating, Suifu, Luchow,
Paoning, and other places where the C.LM. had stations.
The officials, happily, in most cases, gave what protection
they could to those in danger, so that mercifully no lives
were lost, though subsequent investigation proved that the
Viceroy was personally implicated. So widespread and
threatening was the trouble that a large number of Protestant
missionaries left the province, including a few of the C.LM.
Yet many of those who suffered the loss of all things and
experienced no small nervous strain, referred bravely
and brightly to their trials. Mrs. Ririe, for instance,
wrote :
^ We do not here refer to Manchuria, where the C.I.M. has no work,
and where the Rev. J. WyHe of the United Free Church Mission was
murdered by Manchu soldiers on August lo, 1894.
THE WRATH OF MAN 217
Dr. Hart thought we ought to go down river with them^ and semt
a boat across for us^ but we preferred to go to the Yamen. We shall
wait here, God willing, till the students are gone in three weeks' time.
The Mandarin sends our meals very nicely done up in Chinese fashion,
so there is no reason whatever for you to fret. We will, D.V., begin
over again as soon as possible, if the Consul permits us to stay. We
are all of one mind : " Do not go till we have to." Our hearts are at
peace and God's promises are our stay. We are among the blessed
to-day, and far better off than our Master, who had nowhere to lay
His head. We have comfortable beds and slept soundly.
While these troubles were proceeding in the v^est, a
serious persecution of Chinese Christians commenced among
some of the Mission's converts at Pingyanghsien in Chekiang.
Twenty-two families had their houses and possessions
destroyed, and fifty-nine persons w^ere compelled to seek
shelter in the Mission premises at the central station. And
then right in the midst of this time of stress and strain, came
like a thunderbolt the terrible news of the massacre of the
Church Missionary Society's and the Church of England
Zenana Missionary Society's workers, at the little mountain
retreat of Hwasang, Kucheng, on August i. Though the
terrible news was received with a burst of horror and
sympathy from the whole civilized world, and a cry for
vengeance arose in certain quarters, yet, by the grace of
God, nothing was expressed at the great meeting, held in
Exeter Hall, but " pity for the misguided murderers, thanks-
giving for the lives of the martyrs, and fervent desires for
the evangelization of China " ; and the committee of the
C.M.S., among eight resolutions adopted on this occasion,
desired
To place on record their unfaltering belief that no disasters, however
great, should be allowed to interfere with the prosecution of that
purpose for which the society exists, namely, the evangelization of the
world, which in its divine origin is without conditions.
Unfortunately, the troubles did not cease with this sad
massacre in Fukien. In the far north-west a terrible
Mohammedan rebellion broke out, which devastated large
tracts of country, and resulted in the loss of countless lives.
During this time, Mr. and Mrs. Ridley, with their little son,
2i8 THE FOURTH DECADE
a'nd Mr. Hall, all of the C.I.M., were shut up for many months
in Siningfu, one of the besieged cities. For five and a half
months no communication reached these workers, not even
from their nearest mission station, and for nine months
they were without letters or supplies. Yet God was with
them, and in many remarkable ways provided for them.^
During this anxious and trying time these besieged
friends in Siningfu were enabled to attend over iioo wounded
people, to treat 900 cases of diphtheria, and dispense medicine
to hundreds of others suffering from varying complaints,
and in this way they were enabled to do more to teach the
people of those parts, who had hitherto been unfriendly,
that there was a living and loving God, than would have
been possible during many years of ordinary service.
But even this does not complete the list of sorrows.
Early in October cholera entered the Mission compound at
Wenchow, Chekiang, and within a few days three beloved
missionaries, five Chinese converts, and one child had
succumbed. The schools had to be disbanded, and the
ordinary work of the station suspended. In addition to
all these troubles, the Mission was sustaining the trial of
shortness of funds.
Yet in the midst of all these multiplied anxieties, God
was working and giving blessing. In 1895 the Mission was
able to rejoice that more converts had been baptized than
in any previous year, and in 1896, which was the first year
when the baptisms rose into four figures, there was a further
increase of fully 50 per cent, and this increase in blessing
was common to other Societies. The British and Foreign
Bible Society, for instance, reported that though only five
and three-quarter million copies of the Scriptures had been
circulated in China in the more than eighty years from 18 13
— when Dr. Morrison's translation of the New Testament
was printed — up to the close of 1895, the next four years
alone showed a circulation of over two and a half million
copies.
The years which followed the war were, in not a few
1 See Faith and Facts, pp. 46-52. Morgan & Scott, Ltd. One shilling
net.
THE WRATH OF MAN 219
places, times of much blessing. Therefore, rather than be
discouraged by the long-continued trials, Mr. Taylor actually
appealed for more prayer and more helpers. It will be
remembered that an official appeal for a thousand men
within five years had been issued after the Shanghai Mis-
sionary Conference of 1890. When these five years had
expired, Mr. Hudson Taylor published a small leaflet which
showed that although God's answer had been somewhat
other than the request, yet 1153 new workers had arrived
in China during the five years succeeding the Conference.
Instead of a thousand men, God had sent 481 men and 672
women. As this leaflet was published just at the time
when peace was signed between China and Japan, Mr.
Taylor wrote :
An important crisis in China's history has been reached. The
war just terminated does not leave her where she stood. It will
inevitably lead to a still wider opening of the empire and to many new
developments. If the Church of Christ does not enter into the opening
doors, others will. ... In view of the new facilities and enlarged
claims of China, the next five years should see a larger reinforcement
than that called for in 1890. Will not the Church arise and take
immediate and adequate action to meet the pressing needs of this
vast land ?
XXXIII
NEWINGTON GREEN
As the new decade opened with changed conditions in
China, so it also saw changes in the Home department in
Great Britain. Three somewhat clearly marked stages are
easily discernible in the work at home, each stage associated
with one of the three centres. East Grinstead,^ Pyrland
Road,^ and Newington Green. When Mr. Berger retired
in 1872,2 there were about thirty workers on the field ; when
Mr. Broomhall retired in 1895, and the offices were removed
from Pyrland Road to Newington Green, the membership
had risen to 630. With the advent of Mr. and Mrs. Broom-
hall at Pyrland Road in the early summer of 1875, their
home had been opened to the many candidates who, during
what was the Mission's most rapid period of growth, stayed
in London. During these years, to quote the Council
Minutes of 1895 :
It was the privilege of candidates for China to be welcomed into
the happy home circle at No. 2 Pyrland Road^ where in Mr. and Mrs.
Broomhall a great many of our members now labouring in China
found a second father and mother.
It became evident, however, some time before the actual
retirement of Mr. Broomhall, that the work was passing
beyond the stage when the most expansive of homes — and
^ See Chapters XIII. and XVIII., pp. 79 and 116.
2 Mr. Berger, who died on January 9, 1899, aged eighty-four, maintained
his interest in the work to the last. One signal illustration of this was his
gift of ;^40oo in 1889, to found a Superannuation Fund for worn-out
missionaries.
NEWINGTON GREEN 221
it is wonderful how expansive love can make a home —
could compass what was necessary. With the object of
building special premises, as soon as God supphed the funds,
Inglesby House, a large, old-fashioned dwelling with exten-
sive gardens behind, situated on Newington Green, close to
Pyrland Road, was purchased in September 1887. This
house at first afforded some much-needed accommodation
for the men candidates, who still boarded at Pyrland Road,
but it gradually became the centre of the Men's Candidate
Department, Mr. Marcus Wood, who had had eight years'
experience in China, taking charge in October 1890. Several
changes in the leadership of this Home have taken place,
the writer having been in residence there for nearly
nine years, and Mr. J. B. Martin — who has recently
been appointed Assistant Secretary — since the autumn of
1908.
Similar changes were made in regard to the women
candidates. In June 1889, a Ladies' Council was formed,
the first meeting of this Auxiliary Council, which has so
materially assisted the work, taking place on September 23,
1889, Miss H. E. Soltau being appointed Honorary Secretary.
Two houses in Pyrland Road, Nos. 41 and 41 A, were rented
for offices and training -home purposes, this Home being
moved to its present locality, 90 and 92 Grosvenor Road,
in June 1903. Throughout the more than twenty-five years
which have elapsed since these arrangements were in-
augurated. Miss Soltau has, with a keen zeal for China's
evangelization and a loving care for all who have come under
her roof, conducted this department.
From the early days many candidates had offered from
north of the Tweed, and for some years prior to 1889, a few
friends had kindly acted as referees in Scotland, ^.but in
October 1889, a Scottish Auxiliary Council was formed to
consider more thoroughly the cases of candidates who
apphed, and to help in the development of the work locally.
For some years Mr. William Oates of Glasgow kindly acted
as Honorary Secretary, but subsequently Mr. G. Graham
Brown was appointed Secretary.
In these ways the pressure of work was being gradually
222 THE FOURTH DECADE
taken from the over-burdened shoulders of Mr. and Mrs.
Broomhall, for though all through the abnormally busy
years when " the Seventy " and " the Hundred " sailed,
all the candidates had been lovingly welcomed into their
home, such a procedure obviously had its limitations.
Meanwhile the new premises on Newington Green were
being erected, the heavy outlay both for the purchase of
the land and for the erection of the buildings being made
possible through one or two munificent donations given
for this purpose.
With the opening of the month of April 1895, the transfer
of offices from Pyrland Road to Newington Green took
place, and with this change synchronized Mr. Broomhall' s
retirement. During his years of service at Pyrland Road
he had laboured in a way that few men could have endured
physically, for his almost invariable custom had been not
to cease his day's work until the neighbouring midnight
post had gone.
" Few probably are aware/' reads the special Minute of the London
Council, " of the immense amount of labour accomplished by Mr.
Broomhall in past days, when he was assisting Mr. Taylor in the early
and rapid development of the Mission, and when he was almost single-
handed doing the work now divided among several, and they feel that
no words of theirs can adequately express all that the Mission owes
to his untiring energy and unbounded labours."
By means of his powers of persuasion, his personal
influence, his undaunted resolution, and his genius for
winning friends, openings for the advocacy of the cause of
China were gained in most of the large towns and cities of
Great Britain. And his tenacity of purpose enabled him,
in the years of life that still remained after his retirement,
to do yeoman service in the cause for securing the cessation
of the Opium Traffic between India and China. And what
Mr. Broomhall was in the more public sphere, Mrs. Broomhall
was in the home, caring for the pressing claims of her large
family, assisting with the outfitting of those about to sail,
and ever engaging — and stimulating others to do the same —
in prevailing prayer for the work at home and abroad. By
her devotion to the cause, her love and unselfish care for
NEWINGTON GREEN 223
those engaged in the work, she has won an imperishable
place in the affection of all who know her.
It was perhaps inevitable that the work should, whilst
gaining much in efficiency by the development of its organiza-
tion, lose something by its transfer from the family circle
to more business-like quarters. Yet though conditions
may have changed, the homelike spirit still remains, and is
carefully cultivated in the various Training and Mission
Home Centres. Without attempting to follow all the
developments which have taken place since this transfer
to Newington Green twenty years ago, it may be said that
the increase in the Mission's membership — if the associates
be included — has been from 630 to 1076, and this has
inevitably entailed increased responsibihties, and has led
to departmental developments.
In the spring of 1893, two years before the change of
offices, Mr. W. B. Sloan had been called home from China,
after a brief period of service, to become colleague to Mr.
Broomhall, so that when the latter retired, Mr. Sloan was
happily acquainted with the details of the work. For the
ten years dating from the spring of 1893 to the spring of
1903, Mr. Sloan served as Secretary, two years in fellowship
with Mr. Broomhall, two years alone, and then for nearly
six years with Mr. Marcus Wood, who had for the two
preceding years been labouring throughout the country as
Deputation Secretary.
In the spring of 1903, in consequence of Mr. Taylor's
enforced retirement from active participation in the Home
affairs of the Mission, Mr. Sloan was relieved of his Secre-
tarial duties that he might be free, as Assistant Home
Director — Mr. Theodore Howard being Home Director — to
devote attention to the varied needs of the Mission, and
particularly to develop, throughout the country and the
Church at large, a deeper sense of responsibility for the
spread of the Gospel in China. In London Mr. Wood has
continued to bear the heavy burden of the Secretary's
office, while the various departments have been steadily
developed and made more efficient. In 1901, the writer,
after more than eight years' experience in various parts of
224 THE FOURTH DECADE
China, was appointed Editorial Secretary, in which office
he has enjoyed the cordial and efficient help of Mr. T. W.
Goodall as Assistant Editor.
This brief and all too imperfect record of Home affairs
must not close without a reference to the Mission Home in
London, which as an integral part of the Office has continued
to foster that family spirit so characteristic of the Mission
from its commencement. Here for nearly fifteen years
Miss Williamson, who had previously spent about eight
years as Lady Superintendent of the Home in Shanghai,
gave herself unsparingly, as an honorary worker, to the
exacting duties of a large and busy household, ministering
in more loving and generous ways than will ever be known,
to the welfare of returned or departing missionaries. Toward
the close of 1909, Miss Wilhamson was reluctantly compelled,
on the grounds of health, to relinquish her post, which has
since been ably filled by Miss Holliday, who for nine years
had been Miss Williamson's assistant.
Ht
- «JI
■■uy
♦_
'3iiiwi
teif^— -j/
i^gn'ir
jpl
F
ML .
m
Ef> .rii9pp|| ^
^tm
LJIM
i. ^^1
Hi
XXXIV
THE CHEFOO SCHOOLS
Probably few things have done more in recent years to
promote and conserve the family spirit within the Mission
than the arrangements made for the education of the
missionaries' children. In no personal problem can a mis-
sionary be more acutely exercised, for herein he often finds
himself, like Abraham of old, called to lay his child or
children upon the altar of sacrifice ; yet in no way has the
Mission proved more fully the loving-kindness and care of
God. We make no apology, therefore, for devoting a short
chapter to this subject, for the Schools hold an important
place in the Mission's organization, and the teachers in the
Schools are all members of the Mission, who have accepted
this work as their contribution towards the evangelization
of China.
Concerning one aspect of the problem involved in the
education of missionaries' children, let one who has taught
both at Chefoo and in a Missionary School in England give
his testimony :
I know how serious is the problem of separation. It means a
heartrending blow^ and at least two^ often three, broken hearts. I have
tried the almost hopeless task of comforting a boy of twelve, whose
parents have left him for the first time ; and I have known even a
sadder picture, when the parents have come back after seven or eight
years, to find their children almost shy to meet them, almost dreading
and tremulous at that first inter\dew. I have known the children
to often leave their parents at such a moment, and go off to their
matron, whom they have learned to know better and to love better
than their fathers and mothers.
225 Q
226 THE FOURTH DECADE
As has already been related in a previous chapter,^ the
CT.M., through working in one country only, has been
able to have its Schools upon the field, and thus minimise
to a certain extent this problem. The School which started
so humbly in 1881 had by 1896 grown until there were over
one hundred scholars resident in the three departments —
the Boys', the Girls', and the Preparatory ; the Boys' and
Girls' Schools having been separated in 1883, and the Pre-
paratory School for infants from five to ten years of age
being opened in 1895 in premises situated at Tungshin,
about three miles to the west of the other Schools.
The situation, as we find it about this time, was a great
advance upon the earlier days, yet the need for more and
better accommodation was being increasingly felt, for the
children of the C.I.M. workers then numbered more than
two hundred in all, and for every vacancy that was made
there were many applicants. The increasing need was laid
before God in prayer, and while the friends at Chefoo were
wondering whence the money would come for the necessary
buildings. Dr. Douthwaite, the missionary -in -charge at
Chefoo received a letter from a member of the Mission saying,
with special reference to the Boys' School, " The Lord has
laid it upon my heart to bear the whole cost of building the
School."
The work was speedily put in hand, and with Mr. E. J.
Cooper as architect, and several experienced missionary
helpers, of whom we may mention Messrs. Bailer and
Tomalin, the buildings were erected. For this task several
hundred men were employed, among whom regular evangel-
istic work was carried on, with the gratifying result that
fifteen of their number applied for baptism, though only
four were finally received.
June 15, 1896, was a memorable day, for at four o'clock
in the afternoon the Foundation Stone was laid by Dr.
Douthwaite. Overhead the Union Jack, the Stars and
Stripes and Chinese flags floated in friendly proximity, with
the place of honour given to the School colours. The
stone laid bore the following inscription :
1 See Chap. XX. p. 133.
THE CHEFOO SCHOOLS 227
Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.
This Foundation Stone is laid
TO commemorate
the faithfulness of God
IN connection with the
CHINA INLAND MISSION SCHOOLS
which were founded a.d. 1881
for the education of children of missionaries.
The Lord will provide.
June 15, 1896.
Simultaneously with the erection of the Boys' School, the
new Girls' School was being built. The progress of all this
building was not so simple as it may appear. Again and
again prayer was answered in the supply of funds, for the
outbreak of the Japanese war with China had greatly en-
hanced the cost of material, and thus exceeded the original
estimates. The same troubles had caused a scarcity of
workmen, while at one time the opposition of the local
gentry became a formidable hindrance. The new Girls'
School, with accommodation for eighty boarders, was,
however, completed and occupied toward the close of 1897,
and the new Boys' School, with accommodation for over
one hundred boarders, was ready by the beginning of 1898.
In the year 1907, largely through the generosity of another
member of the Mission, a two-storied extension of the Girls'
School was commenced, which was ready at the reopening
of the Schools in 1908, a brass plate being fixed in the
Gymnasium :
To commemorate the Goodness of God
IN giving this enlarged accommodation
IN answer to Prayer.
The Preparatory School had been transferred from
Tungshin in 1899, first to the old Boys' School, and then to
228 THE FOURTH DECADE
a large hotel — its present premises — adjoining the other
Schools, which came into the market in a providential way.
It should also be added that more recently an additional
Preparatory School has been opened at Ruling, on the
Yangtze, wliere the kind donor of the Boys' School at Chefoo
also erected the necessary premises.
In these Schools more than a thousand boys and girls
have either received or are receiving their education. With-
out giving the figures for the Preparatory School, since
most of the scholars who enter this proceed to one or other
of the Higher Departments later, about six hundred boys
have entered the Boys' School since its commencement, in
which for more than twenty years Mr. Frank McCarthy
has been Headmaster, ably seconded by Mr. Ebe Murray
and others. Though the records of the Girls' School, prior
to 1891, are not complete, more than four hundred have
entered here. Of the eight hundred scholars, approximately,
who have gone forth into life, many have done well, while
more than thirty have already followed in their parents'
footsteps and devoted themselves to missionary service.
It is interesting to notice that one of the three who formed
the original nucleus of the School in 1881, Dr. F. H. Judd,
has been labouring as a medical missionary in connection
with the Mission for nearly twenty years.
The best testimony to the efficiency of the Schools'
educational work is the record of its examinations. For
several years the College of Preceptors' Examinations were
periodically held at Chefoo, but in 1908 arrangements
allowed of the Oxford Local Examinations being held in
preference. Since that date 295 scholars — 185 boys and
no girls — ^have entered for these Examinations, and of that
number all have passed, with the exception of one boy and
four girls ; while many have taken honours, and some have
received special marks of distinction.
Of the spiritual results it is, of course, less easy to write.
These cannot be tabulated, but since the fear of the Lord
has been, in the estimate of every teacher, the beginning
of wisdom, the spiritual welfare of the children has been
ever made the matter of supreme importance. That the
THE CHEFOO SCHOOLS 229
labours of the teachers have not been in vain in this respect
has been proved by many quiet and unsohcited testimonies,
while at occasional meetings, arranged by the special request
of the scholars themselves, many have pubhcly confessed
their faith in Christ.
XXXV
THE OPENING OF HUNAN
It is now time to turn from the recital of events at home
and at Chefoo to inland China, and the most striking
development of the period under review which demands
our attention was connected with the opening up of Hunan.
More than twenty years had elapsed since the first C.I.M.
pioneers had entered the province, and the story of those
early years, up to the time when Adam Dorward settled at
Shasi after his eviction from Hungkiang, has already been
told.i More than ten years had passed since those events,
and of these years we must first speak.
When Messrs. Dorward, Dick, and James settled at
Shasi, for work across the north-west border, extensive
journeys were taken into the province, during which journeys
no little hardship was endured, trying both to soul and body,
and sometimes imperilling life. One of these journeys,
extending over a period of six months, is especially memor-
able ; for Mr. Dick, after spending nearly a month in the
city of Shenchowfu, passed on and succeeded, in May 1886,
in entering Changsha, the capital. This was the first time
Changsha had ever been entered by a missionary, and it
was considered as no small success ; but Mr. Dick's triumph
was unfortunately short-lived, for he was speedily escorted
out of the city by the astonished and annoyed officials.
During this period of opposition the workers suffered
riots both at Tsinshih and Shihshow, Mr. James in the
latter place, after having been dragged for more than a mile
^ Continued from Chap. XXIII. p. 152.
230
THE OPENING OF HUNAN 231
towards a pit, only being saved from a violent death by a
timely deluge of tropical rain. But the heaviest blow of all
came when Adam Dorward their leader died from dysentery
on October 2, 1888. " The sad removal of our brother
Dorward," wrote Mr. Taylor, " takes away from Hunan
one of the truest hearts that ever breathed in sympathy
with that people." In one of his latest letters, penned
during his last visit to Changteh, Dorward wrote :
I feel as if I would be willing to do almost anything that would be
honouring to God, to undergo any hardship, if I could get a permanent
footing in this city, and have the joy of seeing men and women turning
to God.
The day of entry into Changteh was not to be till long
after Dorward had passed to his reward, but it was to come,
and with most encouraging results.
After Dorward's death the work in Hunan was continued
until, in 1891, the outbreak of the Yangtze riots and the
lack of suitable men compelled a temporary retirement.
Shihshow and Shasi were, however, retained as out-stations
in the hands of trusted Chinese helpers. About the year
1896 the appointment of a new Governor to the province
changed the situation. This man, so far as he was able,
reversed the tide of anti- foreign feeling, and within a
few years rapid strides were made in settled work, prov-
ing how much under God depended upon the official
attitude.
Towards the close of 1895, the Rev. George Hunter, M.A.,
a Scotch Presbyterian minister, who had joined the Mission
in 1889, and had had Hunan laid upon his heart, settled
with his wife and younger child at Ichang, as a base for
work across the border. From this centre Hunan was
visited repeatedly ; and in September 1897, EvangeHst Yao,
one of Dorward's faithful helpers, returned from a three
months' journey with the deed of rental of a house which
he had secured outside the East Gate of Changteh. Here
two Chinese helpers were speedily stationed.
Meanwhile, Miss Jacobsen, who had been labouring for
a number of years in Shansi, in Pastor Hsi's district, had
232 THE FOURTH DECADE
felt the call of Hunan, and accompanied by Evangelist Ren,
one of Pastor Hsi's helpers, she came south, and in the
summer of 1896 settled in a small village in Kiangsi, not far
from the Hunan border. The Chinese Evangelist soon
entered the province, and rented premises in a village not
far from the boundary, but ere long, through the kindness
of an official who was helped to break off opium. Miss
Jacobsen obtained entry into another village, Shengkwan-
shih, five miles farther in. Considerable interest attaches
to this opening, for this was the beginning of settled work
by foreigners in the province, if Dorward's residence at
Hungkiang during 1882-83 be excepted.
From this time onward the work in Hunan began gradu-
ally to assume a more hopeful aspect, and the year 1897
may be regarded as the year when a permanent entry was
secured, the temporary retirement during the crisis of 1900
being common to the work in most provinces. The Christian
and Missionary Alliance secured premises in Changteh in
November 1897 ; the American Presbyterian Mission in
Kwangtung organized a small Church across the Hunan
border, — the first regularly organized Christian Church in
Hunan, — but without a resident missionary ; the London
Missionary Society opened three stations with resident
Chinese helpers, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Mission
started work in Changteh about the same time. During
the following year, 1898, rapid developments took place.
Changteh was occupied by Mr. Clinton, who laboured there
with conspicuous success and devotion for the next ten
years until his early and lamented death, some sixty baptized
converts being gathered in during this period. Shenchowfu
and Chalingchow were opened the same year, but though
the work was thus prospered, much determined opposition
was still to be met with, and a firm resolution was needed
both in missionary and Chinese helper. What the type
of these Chinese helpers was may be gathered from the
following reply of one whom Mr. Hunter approached with
a view to making an itinerant journey.
" If you are just going down to Hunan/' he said, " to look round
and come back again, I would rather be excused, but if you mean
THE OPENING OF HUNAN 233
business, and if you are going to preach there and are ready to endure
hardness, I will go with you. It is the very thing I want."
Such a man was Mr. Li who, with Dr. Keller, reached
Chalingchow in October 1898. Favoured by the officials,
they quietly settled in, though the students freely spoke of
killing the landlord and looting the premises. In the spring
of 1899 the mob at length took matters into their own hands,
and looted both the landlord's and the Mission's premises.
By the express order of the Prefect, the District Magistrate
ofered compensation to Dr. Keller, but the Doctor replied
saying that if he would indemnify the landlord in full, he
would give the official a written release from all claims from
the foreigner. To this the official willingly agreed, and the
compact then made was faithfully fulffiled. This action
was blessed of God to the breaking down of much prejudice,
and soon a warm friendship sprang up between the Doctor
and the official's eldest son. Some months later the Doctor
was the means of saving the life of this man's wife, when all
the Chinese midwives had retired in despair, and the deep
gratitude evoked by this assistance intensified the friendship
of the official's son, who subsequently protected Dr. Keller
when the Boxer outbreak resulted in widespread riots and
disorder throughout the province.^
During the days of trouble which accompanied the Boxer
riots several Roman Catholic missionaries in Hunan were
killed, but in the good providence of God all Protestant
workers in the province were enabled safely to withdraw,
rejoicing that though they were temporarily hindered from
continuing their work, three stations had been opened in
hostile Hunan, and some thirty converts had been gathered
out as the nucleus of the future Church. The year 1900,
however, brought with it a heav}^ loss to the work in this
province, through the somewhat sudden death of Mr. George
Hunter, whose gifts and graces had marked him out as one
1 Years afterward this official resigned his post and removed to the
capital to have Dr. Keller attend him in his final illness. His grandson,
Han En-show, entered the C.I.M. School and while there gave his heart to
the Lord. During 191 3 he completed his course of study in Yale College —
in China, and then entered a theological seminary to prepare himself to
become a preacher of the Gospel.
234 THE FOURTH DECADE
from whom service of more than ordinary value had been
hoped for.
Barely six months had elapsed from the date of Dr.
Keller's escape from Chalingchow, ere the Hunan workers
were on their way back to the province again. Changsha,
the capital, and naturally the key to the province, was still
closed, though Mr. B. Alexander of the Christian and Mis-
sionary Alliance had, by living on a boat outside the West
Gate, and by daily selling Gospels and tracts within the city,
done much to prepare the way for the opening of this centre.
On June 8, 1901, Dr. Keller, still accompanied by Evangehst
Li, reached Changsha, and two days later was successful
in renting a pleasant house in a good street inside the walls.
These premises were immediately occupied, and on the
fourth morning after arrival daily evangelistic services were
begun. During the first month the successful treatment
of two soldiers, who had been injured by the premature
discharge of cannon on the city wall, won the confidence
and friendship of the officials and soldiers. Within a
month Mr. W. E. Hampson came to join Dr. Keller, gradually
other workers followed, and soon a flourishing work sprang
up in this formerly anti-foreign centre, the Governor of
the province himself subsequently giving a sum of about
;f300 for the purchase of a site for the Mission hospital.
At Changteh, barely a month later than Dr. Keller's
entry into Changsha, new premises were bought inside the
city where, as already stated, the work has been prospered.
At Shenchowfu, however, where Messrs. Bruce and Lowis
established themselves and were engaged in faithful and
steady work, there was an outbreak of cholera in the summer
of 1902, and the people in their ignorance being roused to
a sudden fury by the report that foreigners had poisoned
the famous spring, which was the city's main water supply,
murdered those whose only ambition was to be their best
friends.
In the south of the province, Mr. Kampmann, from
Germany, opened the city of Paoking in July 1902 as a
centre for other workers coming from Liebenzell. So
rapidly did this work under the care of our German brethren
THE OPENING OF HUNAN 235
grow, that in 1906 this branch was reorganized under the
name of the Liebenzell Mission, associated with the China
Inland Mission. From Paoking their work rapidly developed
to Yuanchow, then to Siangtan and Changsha, and when
in 1910 nearly all the Mission buildings in Changsha were
destroyed by riot, it was decided, when the time for rebuilding
came that the work in this centre should be handed over
entirely to the Liebenzell Mission. The result is that to-day,
apart from the two northern stations of Changteh and
Nanchowting, all the work connected with the C.I.M. in
Hunan is in the hands of the Liebenzell associates.
No survey of the work in this province would be complete
without a reference to the Bible Conferences and the special
campaigns organized by Dr. Keller, in co-operation with
members of other Missions, for work among the thousands
of pilgrims who every autumn visit the temples and shrines
on the sacred mountain of Nanyoh. To take one year as
an illustration, we find that during 191 1, 83 men, of whom
2 were pastors, 30 evangelists, 24 colporteurs, 16 student-
evangelists, 6 school teachers, and 5 lay workers, representing
in all 44 Churches in 10 different Missions, and coming from
33 cities and towns in 22 counties of Hunan, came together
for a month in the autumn to spend the morning of each
day in united Bible study and the afternoon and even-
ing in a special mission to these pilgrim-seekers after truth
and blessing. On that occasion nearly 70,000 Scriptures
were distributed, the workers frequently rising as early as
three o'clock in the morning to catch the travellers on the
road. In addition to this autumn work there are two bands
of colporteurs, with twelve workers and a leader in each band,
regularly engaged throughout the year in a house-to-house
visitation, with a view to reaching, so far as is possible,
every creature with the good news of salvation through
Christ. Already several tens of thousands of homes have
been visited where the Gospel had never before been preached.
By God's blessing there has been a large number of con-
versions, many families have given up their idols, and
several new Churches have been formed.
It is impossible to-day to look back upon the progress
236 THE FOURTH DECADE
of events in Hunan without realising how remarkable have
been God's answers to prayer in what has been the stronghold
of opposition in China. Hunan was for long a kind of
spiritual Edom — the fenced city — entrance into which was
constantly sought by strong cryings and tears, and though
the conflict has been long and arduous, the labour has not
been in vain in the Lord.
When Mr. Taylor visited and died in the capital in 1905,
although thirty years had passed since the first C.I.M.
pioneers had entered the province, settled work had only
recently begun ; yet there was a little Church of some
fifty members in that city to give him welcome, not to speak
of the converts connected with other Societies. And what
a welcome that must have been, after the many years of
prayer and labour for entry into this, the last province
opened to the Gospel ! But to-day, only ten years later,
the C.LM. alone can rejoice in the possession of 27 stations
and out-stations, and in the fact that about one thousand
persons have confessed their faith in Christ by baptism.
XXXVI
AMONG THE TRIBES i
To the west of Hunan lie the two provinces of Kweichow
and Yunnan, which no traveller can visit without being
struck with the large place the non-Chinese races hold in
the population of these regions. It was natural, therefore,
that the early pioneers should, from the first, have had their
interest awakened for these people, though the pressing
claims of the Chinese, and the inaccessibility of the tribes
prevented work among them for many years. Yet, although
it was not until the Mission had entered upon its fourth
decade that definite efforts were made to reach and evangelize
these non- Chinese races, Mr. J. F. Broumtom, the first
Protestant missionary to settle in Kweichow, baptized the
first three converts from among the Miao some time before
the year 1884. One of these was P'an Sheo-shan, of whom
we shall hear more immediately.
In the year 1895, the Rev. Samuel Clarke, who was in
charge of the station at Kweiyang, was asked to commence
work among the tribes, to learn their languages and reduce
the same to writing. P'an Sheo-shan, the Black-Miao
convert already mentioned, was engaged as teacher, and by
July 1896 a Primer for students of the Black-Miao language
had been prepared and a commencement made with a
dictionary, in addition to other smaller treatises. During
the same month Mr. and Mrs. Webb, who had been located
in the province for work among these people, set out for the
1 Free use has been made in this Chapter and Chapter XLII. of the
Rev. Samuel R. Clarke's book, Among the Tribes of South-West China.
237
238 THE FOURTH DECADE
Black-Miao district east of the capital, which district Mr.
Webb had visited before. Accompanied by the Evangelist
P'an and a Black-Miao servant, these pioneers travelled
from place to place for more than a month, living in wretched
inns and houses. At length some premises were rented,
but what premises ! — ^half a house in the middle of a Miao
village, which half house was merely a lofty barn-like room,
all open on one side to the wind. Two months elapsed ere
this rude dwelling-place was floored, the open spaces panelled,
and windows put in. Some months later the other half
of the house was secured and made fit for habitation. Such
experiences are, of course, the common lot of pioneers,
though none the less easy to bear for all that. But Mr. and
Mrs. Webb were grateful for any sort of settlement so long
as the work began.
There were, however, difficulties greater than those
connected with the securing of shelter, for though the Miao
seemed either friendly, or at the worst indifferent, the
Chinese soon became suspicious and hostile. Serious efforts
were soon made to compel the foreigners to retire. The
Chinese headman of Panghai, accompanied by a band of
local robbers and rufiians to the number of 150, employed
every art of intimidation to secure their end. Temporarily,
Mrs. Webb was compelled to withdraw, while Mr. Samuel
Clarke, with his larger experience, came to support Mr. Webb,
with the result that patience, combined with a fearless
demeanour, eventually won the day.
When this opposition on the part of the Chinese had been
overcome, Mr. and Mrs. Webb, by leaving their house open
to their neighbours all the day long, soon gained the con-
fidence of the somewhat timid Miao. Some elementary
medical work also produced astonishing results, and the
sick and needy came from places two or three days distant
for treatment. During all this time Evangelist P'an had
been busy preaching the Gospel to his own people both in
Panghai and in the surrounding villages and neighbouring
markets. Thus was Panghai opened for work among these
much-neglected and despised tribes.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Webb soon became prostrate with
AMONG THE TRIBES 239
ague and malarial fever, so that she and her husband were
compelled to withdraw just as they were becoming ac-
quainted with the people and their language. The work was,
however, continued by Mr. H. E. Bolton and Evangelist
P'an, a school being opened for boys. Unhappily, about this
time a dispute arose between the Chinese of Panghai and the
Miao as to the site of the local market, and as seven-eighths
of the people were Miao, they easily carried the day, to the
financial loss of their opponents. The issue was that the
Chinese retaliated and burned the Miao booths, and not long
afterwards the disaffected Miao seized and looted Panghai,
the whole village, which contained some two or three
hundred houses, being either purposely or accidentally
burnt to the ground.
Early in October 1898 Mr. Bolton returned to the capital
for a needed change, while Mr. W. S. Fleming undertook
to hold the fort at Panghai during his absence. This
brought Mr. Fleming right into the district at this time
of disaffection, and as the coup d'etat at Peking had but
recently taken place, when the Emperor Kwang Hsii, the
would-be reformer, was seized and imprisoned by the
Empress Dowager, the anti-foreign spirit began more freely
to assert itself throughout the country.
With Panghai burned, and with a company of soldiers,
more threatening than the robbers themselves, quartered
in the ruined village, Mr. Fleming's position was peculiarly
tr5dng, and he decided to return to Kweiyang. Accompanied
by Evangelist P'an and a school teacher of the same name,
Mr. Fleming set out for the capital on November 4, 1898.
Only fifteen miles had been traversed when the little company
was attacked from behind, the attack being pre-arranged.
Evangelist P'an, who was in the rear, was first killed, and
then Mr. Fleming, who had dismounted from his mule to
assist his faithful helper, was done to death with many
sword wounds. The coohe and school teacher fled, and
managed to escape to carry the sad intelligence to the
capital. Thus died the first C.LM. martyr, and P'an
Sheo-shan the first of many converts from among the tribes
of south-west China. How fruitful the work among these
240 THE FOURTH DECADE
tribes was subsequently to be, little did those two martyrs
for the Gospel know, though the great ingathering was not
to be made in this immediate neighbourhood but farther
west, where work among other of the tribes had been com-
menced about the same time.
Upon receipt of the sad news, Messrs. Windsor and Adam
set out for the scene of the tragedy, recovered the bodies,
and had them conveyed to Panghai, where they found the
murderers and soldiers had looted the Mission premises.
In the following February, Mr. Adam bought a piece of
land in Panghai where subsequently more suitable buildings
were erected, though the failure of Mr. Bolton's health,
and the outbreak of the Boxer persecutions in 1900, pre-
vented regular work being re-established for some time.
During this interval, however, the station was visited from
time to time by Messrs. Samuel Clarke and Curtis Waters,
though, sad to relate, many of the Miao suffered terrible
persecutions, some 32 in all being put to death, many with
much cruelty under false charges of rebellion, whereas
their real offence was sympathy with the missionary and
his religion.
In June 1904, Mr. Charles Chenery, who was eminently
fitted for the work, settled at this station, and soon won
the respect of the converts and neighbouring Chinese alike.
But his time of ministry was unfortunately short, for on
April 18, 1905, ere he had been there a year, he was accident-
ally drowned when travelling from Kaili to Panghai by boat,
his body, when recovered, being buried beside those of Mr.
Fleming and Evangelist P'an ; these three graves in that
lonely country station still silently witnessing to the con-
straining love of Christ. Mr. R. Williams, who succeeded
Mr. Chenery, only held on for two years, for failure of health
compelled his removal to another station, and the work
then passed to the care of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Powell.
The story of this station, where the first C.I.M. martyrs
fell, has been told somewhat fully and out of proportion to
the many other centres where the work deserves more
attention than space will allow. While, however, it is a
necessary part of the record of work among the tribes, it
AMONG THE TRIBES 241
also affords a valuable illustration of some of the difficulties
incidental to new work, not only among the tribes, but in
most parts of China, so that it may be looked upon as
reflecting the hardships and discouragements which have
had to be encountered in many another centre.
For some reason the Black Miao of Panghai have not as
readily responded to the Gospel as the other tribes have
done. As a people they are especially prone to rebellion,
and have in consequence been much harried by the Chinese
soldiers, who have destroyed their villages from time to
time. Further, they have been intimidated by what the
early inquirers suffered, and have probably been deterred
by the succession of trials and sorrows which have beset
the work. In another chapter ^ it will be our joy to tell
the story of blessing which has abounded among the tribes
to the west of the province and in the neighbouring province
of Yunnan ; and the marked contrast between those centres
and this emphasizes the need for prayer that this station,
consecrated by the martyrs' blood, instead of being " a
valley of weeping " may become " a place of springs."
1 See Chap. XLII. p. 274.
XXXVII
THE BOXER CRISIS
During the closing months of 1897, Mr. Hudson Taylor
published a short statement in China s Millions, saying
that it had been impressed upon him that God was calling
the Mission to prepare for a fresh departure to hasten the
evangelization of China. The munificent legacy left by
Mr. J. T. Morton about this time, payable in yearly instal-
ments over a period of ten or more years, ^ was taken as a
confirmation of this proposal. No immediate appeal for
workers was made, as it was felt that special preparations
at first should be made on the field, the most important
preparation of all being a spiritual one.
Knowing how much " Winter Missions " in India had
been blessed, Mr. Taylor was desirous of some similar efforts
being made in China, and to secure this he approached
both the Keswick Committee and the Secretaries of other
Missionary Societies. There was one fear, however, which
much exercised his mind at this time, about which he asked
special and definite prayer.
" If the Spirit of God worked mightily/' he wrote, " we may be
quite sure that the spirit of evil will also be active. When the Appeal
for one thousand new workers went forth from the Missionary Con-
ference of 1890, the Enemy at once began a counter-move, and riots
and massacres have from time to time followed as never before. Pray
that God will prevent the breaking up of the Empire, and not allow
mission work here to be hindered as it has been in Tahiti, Madagascar,
parts of Africa, and elsewhere."
1 From this source the C.I.M. received more than ;{i40,ooo over a
period of about fifteen years.
242
THE BOXER CRISIS . 243
That this fear was not imaginary, subsequent events all
too terribly proved. Several months after these words had
been penned, definite arrangements were made for the
commencement of a forward movement in Kiangsi. The
province, with certain areas excepted, was divided into five
districts, Jaochow being opened by Dr. Fred Judd as a
centre for the east, and Mr. Home accepted the leadership
of a band of workers, with Kanchow as a centre in the south.
But just as the new workers, who had specially offered for
this new effort, were becoming qualified for their ministry,
the Boxer outbreak disorganized the work so seriously that
the scheme was never carried through as originally intended.
Several of the workers — Messrs. Ernest Taylor, C. H. Judd,
junior, and P. V. Ambler volunteered for the storm-swept
province of Shansi, where 113 missionaries with 46 of their
children had been massacred. It is of this tragic counter-
move of riot and massacre, feared by Mr. Taylor, that we
must now speak.
The Boxer madness of 1900 was the climax of China's
anti-foreign policy, and was not wholly an unnatural issue
to a series of events which focussed themselves upon this
period of China's history. The perennial antipathy of the
Chinese to foreigners had been increasingly aroused by
foreign aggression, emphasized by the building of railways,
the opening of mines, erection of factories, and other evi-
dences of foreign innovation. These things alone had
begun seriously to agitate the minds of the people. Added
to this was the actual seizure of Chinese territory by Germany
at Kiaochow in 1897, by Russia at Port Arthur in 1898,
and by England and France at Weihaiwei and Kwang-
chow-wan respectively, though the diplomatic term of
" lease " was used in each case. Macao, Hongkong, For-
mosa, and Korea had been lost before, and with the almost
simultaneous alienation of these invaluable harbours to
Foreign Powers, there was small wonder that the Chinese
people and rulers became exasperated.
Nor were these the only causes of offence. In March
1899, France had demanded and obtained official rank for
each order of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Bishops
244 THE FOURTH DECADE
obtained the rank of Viceroys, Vicar-Generals and Arch-
deacons the rank of Provincial Treasurers, and though the
Protestant Missions decHned such '* honours," the conces-
sions made had seriously offended China's sense of amour
propre. Synchronizing with these causes of provocation
from without, came reaction against reform within. For
years the Emperor had been under the influence of an
aggressive Reform Party, headed by K'ang Yii-wei, with
the result that edicts of the most revolutionary nature
followed one another with bewildering rapidity. The
innovations proposed " fairly took away the breath of the
whole Empire," and awakened the bitterest hostility of the
literati, whose interests were more or less dependent upon
a continuance of the old order. When in September 1898
the Emperor degraded and dismissed two Presidents and
four Vice-Presidents of one of the time-honoured Boards of
Government, and ejected two Ministers from the Chinese
Foreign Office, one of whom was the distinguished statesman
Li Hung-chang, a climax was reached. The Empress-
Dowager, aunt of the Emperor and mother of his prede-
cessor and de facto Ruler of China for more than half a
century, was memorialized by the offended officials to
intervene and save the country. This she was only too
ready to attempt, and when H. E. Yuan Shih-kai, the
present President, divulged the Emperor's plot to seize the
person of the Empress-Dowager, the Emperor was compelled
to sign a decree abdicating the Throne and handing over
the reins of government to his masterful aunt.
Thenceforth followed a series of denunciatory edicts,
marked with much bitterness and hate. In one of these,
dated November 1899, the Empress-Dowager declared :
Our Empire is now labouring under great difficulties, which are
becoming daily more serious. The various Powers cast upon us looks
of tiger-like ferocity, hustling each other in their endeavours to be the
first to seize upon our innermost territory. They think that China,
having neither money nor troops, would never venture to go to war
with them. They fail to understand, however, that there are certain
things to which this Empire can never consent, and that if hardly
pressed upon, we have no alternative but to rely upon the justice of our
cause. ... It behoves, therefore, all our Viceroys, Governors, and
THE BOXER CRISIS 245
Commanders-in-chief throughout the whole Empire^ to unite forces
and act together without distinction or particularising of jurisdiction,
so as to present a combined front to the enemy;, exhorting and en-
couraging their officers and soldiers in person to fight for the preserva-
tion of their homes and native soil from the encroaching footsteps
of the foreign aggressor. Never should the word Peace fall from the
mouths of our high officials, nor should they even allow it to rest for
a moment within their breasts.
With such a woman at the head of affairs and such
edicts sent broadcast throughout the land, the anti-foreign
feeling soon ran high ; and when the rains failed and the
prospects of famine stared men in the face, it was felt that
Heaven was giving proof of displeasure at China's tolerance
of the foreigner. Thus were the fiercest passions of the
ignorant multitude soon set loose. The patriotic volunteers,
or Boxers, a modern form of some older secret organization,
rapidly sprang into prominence, with the Empress Dowager
as their chief Patroness. Boxer placards appeared through-
out the country, promising exemption from misfortune and
evils if adherents were gained, and giving the distressed
people assurances of fruitful showers when the hated
barbarian had been driven from their shores.
That any missionaries resident in inland China escaped
at all is a fine testimony to the wisdom and humanity of not
a few of China's best statesmen who dared to disobey.
H. E. Li Hung-chang, aware of the perilous trend of events,
vainly memorialized the Empress-Dowager in the hope of
turning her from her madness. " I have exhausted every
reasonable resource of speech and writing," he recorded in
his diary, " but I fear it is unavailing." Upon one of his
interviews, when he urged her to crush the Boxers, he
records : " In an instant she was alive with wrath and angry
words, and I immediately withdrew." Fortunately, other
powerful officials adopted the same policy as Li Hung-chang.
The Viceroys Chang Chih-tung and Liu Kuen-yi united to
preserve peace and order on the Yangtze, and secured the
adhesion of other officials, so that they guaranteed protection
to merchants, missionaries, and Chinese Christians on the
upper and lower reaches of that great river. H. E. Tuan
Fang, Governor of Shensi, at the risk of his own life, for the
246 THE FOURTH DECADE
Empress-Dowager fled to his capital, stood for peace in the
north-west, and was the means of saving the lives of nearly
a hundred missionaries. H. E. Yuan Shih-kai, Governor
of Shantung, though he had already divulged the Emperor's
plot to seize the Empress-Dowager, suppressed the Boxers
in his province, and H. E. Yung Lu refused to allow the
heavy artillery to be used against the Legations in Peking.
The concerted action of such men, in defiance of specific
orders to the contrary, was under God the reason why so
large a proportion of the missionaries resident in inland
China were enabled to escape.
While the power of the officials to protect was illustrated
by the attitude of those named above, the power of the
officials to destroy was sadly proved by the conduct of the
bitterly anti-foreign Manchu Governor Yii Hsien, of whom
Li Hung-chang wrote : " I well know personally the ignorant
and fire-eating Yii, and I would not let him assist in the
carrying of my chair." The actual loss of life was limited
to the four provinces of Shansi, Chihli, Chekiang and
Shantung, yet out of i88 foreigners who were killed — 135
missionaries and 53 of their children — 159 were stationed
in the province of Shansi, or across the Mongolian border.
How implacable and bitter was China's wrath when led by
anti-foreign leaders is shown by these figures, and by the
fact that in Peking even the priceless Hanlin Library was
fired with the hope of burning down the contiguous Legation
buildings. Yet terrible and heartrending as were the
sufferings and losses of those days, God has in a wondrous
way made the wrath of man to praise Him, and from the
sorrows of that period may be dated the more rapid progress
of China's evangelization.
OF 1111 China iM \M) Mission -who law* dov*n ih! ik i i\t
K)8 CUKISIs S.\h! OIRINt. IHf AVT.frJKHCN (U'THHl AKJ4(ti
ChihJ,!
BtSJAMINBACNAlt
hMiiv Bacnai t
Oladvs Ba^nall
Vera Green
CHEH KUNO
Oavio B TnoMPSiON
A<.»*F5i THOHf SON
Sirtwv Tt«>mp<H)n
Fhma A Tmih«.<h>o
tO!!MSMtRV*tKH»
GtoRGE P Ward
Etta W*i»o
Herbert Ward
fl.ETW^MANCHISfKR
JOSCPMMt DCSNOMO
Shan -St
tMUY WhiTCHUWH
DtWAN Kav
("AROllNr KaV
>l«"nnir K.»v
STfWARt H' Kll
KaTiM' KEt
Alic« t^ Htt
J*Nf STIVI NS
HAtK-ARE-T COOPt^
Brain»rd Coop^^r
FtOSENCt 1 1 *\M>N
Dora I'Anson
Arthur I "Anspw
Eva I An»on
WiluanG.Peat
HtLin PtAi
ftor6ar«tta ^Ml
H*ry Ptat
Maima Aspocn
Sh.'VN Si
ISARf I! « '
IN*.* 1 I
ht-nwih H' ConncM
\ I SA ll NiOCRCN
Hattk Ricf
W Mil i AR SVU SON
( MPIvriHf MtllSON
Ai«i:in<kr Hilitoft
Mil l»^( |l( I AKK!
i lixrM Nathan
flA^ R Nathan
Edith Sf a»eli
HkB\ I. Huston
MMK.ARCT E SHITM
JomkYovno
Alice Young
David BAj?ffATT
Fi«»A C. Glove*
faith Glover
SHASiSi
AifRt nWooonoFrt
Ki i/aM Heaysmam
Vnm G HUKN
LllZAWTM HliRUI^
ANNIf llDRJ D
*N ANMf kiM.
Vin R A (k.ifiK
Mar> Lutlfv
Edith Luttey
^MM- Sautiilrr^
NAIHANIEX CARU^tlMI)
HiKiA HCIN UNO
&vr>iA.Pii»so«i
l.nnk PtR%M»
Ou&nrC.KAMLMiH<
0«rf,AK A.I »»«««)*
AM)«A^lOHAi«m«»rA«
.IC«*«E IjiNMTU
JttsnNAEMCVALL
tttf*%J PtTTCWOfS
^-
Aim* or
WlttlAN S FLCWNO kttMwKil£lCM£0489&.
HCwUltMAilew ^» Ikath tn Viclory,
the toeor^ewiH wipe «w4yT««ri from<rfr4« ¥mm
iMiohXXV 8.
ERCCTCO BY THf IR FCLLOW-WoitHER* »tl»t ChiNA InlAN© Mt*%ieN««
V5/
^^^^^^aii
Reduced Facsimile of Martyrs' Memorial Tablet erected, by the Private
Subscriptions of Fellow- Workers, in the Prayer-^Iehting Halls of the
Mission in Shanghai and London.
To face page 247.
XXXVIII
PARTAKERS OF THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE
GOSPEL
When the storm of persecution broke over China, the
CT.M. had nearly seven hundred missionaries actually in
the field, the majority of whom were resident at inland
stations. In a crisis which developed so rapidly, for even
the Foreign Legations of Peking were for long in dire peril,
it was inevitable for lonely workers resident far up-country
to be speedily involved in positions of great difficulty and
distress. Such risks are inseparable from pioneer missionary
work, and had been gladly and willingly faced by all who
had gone forth. Therefore, without turning aside to
discuss the problems of a missionary's duty — since sometimes
it may be right for him to stay and die ; sometimes, if the
movement is anti-foreign, best for him to withdraw — we
purpose very briefly to record the trials of the Mission at
this unparalleled period of persecution in modern Missions.
Mr. Hudson Taylor, who recently had had a slight stroke,
was absent from China at the time, so that the heavy burden
of responsibility fell upon the shoulders of Mr. Stevenson,
the Deputy-Director in China, assisted at Mr. Taylor's
request by Mr. D. E. Hoste as well as by other members of
the China Council, who had assembled in Shanghai early in
July, little conscious of the terrible tragedies even then
being enacted up-country. On the other hand, many of
the workers inland were in ignorance of the real nature of
the troubles, and were cut off from reliable information.
With great rapidity the painful situation developed. In
247
248 THE FOURTH DECADE
Shanghai the greatest anxiety was felt for the missionaries
inland, and every effort was made to keep in touch with the
stations. As Peking was cut off from the outside world,
the Legations at one time being reported as fallen, Consul-
General Warren of Shanghai became Acting British Minister,
and from him, as well as from the Consuls of other nations,
Mr. Stevenson received unbounded help and sympathy.
It should be added also that Consul-General Warren so
valued and appreciated Mr. Stevenson's counsel and
conduct of affairs as to accord him unusual powers and
liberty in the giving of instructions to those who were in
the interior.
A constant stream of letters or telegrams began to pour
into Shanghai from various parts of the country, the answer-
ing of which caused no little anxiety. Difficulties increased
on every hand ; telegrams to distant stations were either
returned, or their dispatch was followed by a painful and
ominous silence. The Chinese bankers declined business
with the interior, and thus supplies could not be sent.
Each day seemed more full than its predecessor of distressing
news, or of an even more painful suspense. Details of
terrible tragedies gradually began to leak through, while
hopes and fears alternated in regard to the parties who were
painfully struggling to the coast.
Yet there were not wanting many tokens of mercy
during these harrowing months. Not a few of the most
powerful of China's officials promised their protection, and
did befriend the tried workers. The Viceroys of the Lower
Yangtze, of Szechwan and Yunnan all guaranteed assistance ;
the Taotai of Lanchow advanced money, as well as lent a
bodyguard, to some who had been cut off from supplies.
H. E. Tuan Fang, Governor of Shensi, not only protected
but treated with marked kindness all foreigners who came
within his jurisdiction, and even within territory over which
he had no legal control.
Company after company of missionaries began to reach
the coast, some having travelled with comparative comfort
and safety, others having experienced almost incredible
sufferings. The weather, too, was extremely hot, for the
THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE GOSPEL 249
crisis was at its worst in July and August, when the thermo-
meter stood almost every day at 100 degrees in the
shade.
With the arrival of the refugees at the coast, all the ports
became busy and congested centres. In Shanghai the
rental of extra premises cost the Mission £100 per month,
and to add to the trial, the income of the Mission in Great
Britain during August dropped to the lowest point for
sixteen years. The China Treasurer reported at the begin-
ning of September that he had only funds sufficient for two-
thirds of the normal needs of the work, and yet there were
the exceptional expenses involved by hundreds of workers
travelling to the coast, by the outlay in special cables and
telegrams, urgent furloughs, and other unavoidable expenses.
This was a real trial of faith when other trials were more
than sufficient, and a trial of which the Mission could not
speak except to God who knew what things were needed,
and did not fail His tried and sorrowing servants. One
member of the Mission in Shanghai handed in a cheque for
£100, for one month's rent ; another worker far away sent
£50 ; while others sent smaller sums as thank-offerings for
mercies received. In these and other ways too many to
relate, the love of God and the sympathy of His children
one for another were specially manifest in that hour of
trial. But we must now turn our thoughts away from
Shanghai, and trace in briefest outline the sorrows and
trials of God's children in the interior.
It was in the province of Shansi, whither Yii Hsien had
been transferred as Governor, that the persecutions broke
out with unexampled fury. Here, with the Governor's
approval and support, the Boxers were let loose upon the
foreigners and Chinese Christians, so that no fewer than
159 foreigners — 113 missionaries and 46 of their children —
were put to death, together with several hundreds of Chinese
converts. Of the foreigners 64 were connected with the
C.I.M. Some of these were among the large company
massacred in Taiyuanfu, the capital, on July 9, by the
direct orders and in the presence of the Governor himself.
Others fell at lonely stations, and some perished in conse-
250 THE FOURTH DECADE
quence of the unspeakable sufferings and privations experi-
enced when trying to reach the coast.
In the province of Chihh, where 13 missionaries and 4
of their children suffered martyrdom, the CT.M. lost three
workers and one child, one of these being the Rev. William
Cooper, who, after being Assistant China-Director, had
been appointed Travelling Director in China, and was at
the time of the outbreak visiting the stations in the north.
In Mr. Cooper's death the Mission lost a specially valuable
worker who had gained the love and confidence of his
brethren in no ordinary measure.
In the province of Chekiang the 8 missionaries and 3
children who were slain were all connected with the C.I.M.
At first it was thought that their death was due only to a
local rising, but subsequent information proved that it was
directly traceable to the proclamation received from Peking.
But for the speedy action of the Viceroy Liu Kuen-yi, who
compelled the Governor to suppress the proclamation, many
more lives would doubtless have been lost.
Thus in the space of a few short weeks the Mission lost
no fewer than 58 missionaries and 21 children, not to speak
of a much larger number of Chinese Christians ; while
others were so seriously injured as to be incapacitated for
further work in China. Several parties of refugees suc-
ceeded in reaching the coast after enduring anguish and
trial too great for words. The journey from Shansi overland
through the province of Honan, a journey of something
like a thousand miles, had to be endured in the terrific heat
of August, and for the most part on foot in an almost starving
and naked condition. That any lived to tell the tale was
little short of a miracle.
One worker, Dr. J. W. Hewitt, after living among the
hills for a month, was detained in prison for two months
until the danger was passed. Others, Mr. G. McKie and
the Misses Chapman and Way — now Mrs. McKie and Mrs.
Fiddler — lived for some length of time in caves among the
mountains. Others, Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Green and two
children, with Miss Gregg, were captured by the Boxers
and kept in captivity for a period of four months, during
THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE GOSPEL 251
which time they were constantly threatened with death,
but were finally released by the Allied Troops after the
rehef of Peking, but not before little Vera, one of the dear
children, had died.
It is necessary to read the literature of this period to
realize the beautiful spirit in which all this terrible suffering
was borne by many. One who wrote in the midst of deepest
trials and dangers, having actually been shot by the Boxers,
said :
I am filled with comfort^ I am exceeding joyful in all our tribula-
tions.
Another, in a letter penned shortly before his death,
wrote :
We rejoice that we are made partakers of the sufferings of Christ,
that when His glory shall be revealed, we may rejoice also with ex-
ceeding joy.
Another, a member of one of the American Missions,
wrote :
I am preparing for the end very quietly and calmly. The Lord
is wonderfully near and He will not fail me. I was very restless and
excited while there seemed a chance of life, but God has taken away
that feeling, and now I just pray for grace to meet the terrible end
bravely. The pain will soon be over, and oh, the sweetness of the
welcome above ... I cannot imagine the Saviour's welcome ! Oh,
that will compensate for all these days of suspense. Dear ones, five
near to God and cling less closely to earth. There is no other way
by which we can receive that peace of God which passeth understanding.
No one can read such letters, written in the presence of
certain death, without magnifying the grace of God in His
servants. Though to the natural eye everything appeared
to be loss and ruin, yet from the standpoint of eternity
God was causing His people to be more than conquerors.
All the Mission's organization in two provinces had been
entirely swept away, as well as in several districts in other
provinces. The missionary body had, with a few exceptions,
been withdrawn from their stations throughout the whole
country. In many centres where no lives were lost, the
252 THE FOURTH DECADE
Mission premises were ruthlessly destroyed and the Chinese
Christians had to endure months of suffering. Many had
their homes and farms destroyed, and had fled to the
mountains in the height of summer with nothing but the
lightest clothing they wore, yet had to face the cold and
hunger of the ensuing mnter with little or no relief. Of
them it may truly be said :
They were stoned^ they were sawn asunder^ they were tempted^
they were slain with the sword ; they went about in sheepskins and
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, evil-entreated — of whom the
world was not worthy.
The story of those sad and terrible days is something to
be continually remembered. It is a heritage and an endow-
ment to be sacredly cherished and lived up to. "It has
been proposed now and again," said Dr. Robert Speer, when
speaking of the resources of the Christian Church, " that we
should seek in our Mission Boards for a financial endowment.
I would rather," he added, " have the endowment of the
memory of one martyr than an endowment of much money.
There is no endowment so great as the endowment of the
memory of sacrifice."
THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE GOSPEL 253
MARTYRS OF THE CHINA INLAND MISSION— 63
William S. Fleming
N. Carleson .
JUSTINA EnGVALL
MiNA Hedlund
Anna Johansson
G. E. Karlberg
0. A. L. Larsson
Jenny Lundell
S. A. Persson
E. Persson {nee Pettersson)
Ernst Pettersson
Emily E. B. Whitchurch
Edith E. Searell .
William Cooper
Benjamin Bagnall
Emily Bagnall {nee Kingsbury)
William Millar Wilson
Christine Wilson .
Jane Stevens
Mildred E. Clarke
Stewart McKee .
Kate McKee {nee ^McWatters)
Charles S. FAnson
Florence FAnson {nee Doggett)
Maria Aspden
Margaret E. Smith
Hattie J. Rice
George McConnell
Isabella McConnell {nee Gray)
Sarah Ann King .
Elizabeth Burton
John Young .
Alice Young {nee Troyer)
David Baird Thompson .
Agnes Thompson {nee Dowman)
Josephine E. Desmond .
Emma Ann Thirgood
George Frederick Ward
Etta L. Ward {nee Fuller)
Edith S. Sherwood
Mariette E. Manchester
Date of Decease.
November 4, 1898.
June 28; 1900.
June
3°,
1900.
July
I. I
900.
July
9, I
900.
July
12,
;}
»
1900.
July
July
16,
1900
1900
July 21, 1900.
July 22, 1900.
July 24, 1900.
254
THE FOURTH DECADE
Margaret Cooper (nee Palmer)
Mary Eliza Huston
Francis Edith Nathan .
Mary Rose Nathan
Eliza Mary Heaysman .
Anton P. Lundgren
Elsa Lundgren (nee Nilson)
Annie Eldred
Alfred Woodroffe
William Grahame Peat
Helen Peat (jtee McKenzie)
Edith J. Dobson .
Emma Georgina Hurn .
Duncan Kay
Caroline Kay (nee Matthewson)
David Barratt
P. A. Ogren .
Flora Constance Glover
James R. Bruce
Richard H. Lowis
Ida Beckman (nee Klint)
Wilhelm T. Vatne
Date of Decease.
August 6, 1900.
August II, 1900.
August IS, 1900.
August 15, 1900.
August 18; 1900.
August 30, 1900.
September 15, 1900.
September 21, 1900.
October 15, 1900.
October 25, 1900.
August 15, 1902.
October 23, 191 1.
Also 27 children of some of the missionaries named above.
XXXIX
REBUILDING THE WALL
The Boxer crisis was barely over ere the Mission began
definitely to face the duty of reconstruction. At a meeting
of the China Council, held in Shanghai in November 1900,
a special Minute was passed relative to the recent massacres
and the Mission's attitude toward the same. The following
are some extracts from that Minute :
The solemn and momentous events transpiring in China at the
present time^ call, in our opinion, for much heart searching and deep
humiliation before God. After many years of prayer and toil, during
which time the Lord has enabled us to establish stations and peacefully
labour in all parts of the interior, many of our fellow-workers have
suddenly been cruelly murdered and the remainder, with few excep-
tions, compelled to flee to the coast. These facts are surely a loud
call to earnest and persistent waiting upon God in order that His wise
and gracious purpose in permitting these events may be clearly under-
stood by us, that they may prove of lasting blessing, both to us indi-
vidually and as a Mission, and be overruled for the furtherance of the
Gospel in this land.
After placing on record the Council's deep sense of
God's goodness in sparing so many lives, in raising up
friends among many of the officials, the Minute records the
loss of those who had suffered martyrdom. It then proceeds :
While we lament the loss of both our foreign and native brethren
and fellow-workers who have fallen in the fight, we cannot but rejoice
that they have been faithful unto death, and have been counted worthy
to win the martyr's crown. And though we fear whole Churches
have been completely swept away by fierce persecution, and the work
255
256 THE FOURTH DECADE
of years in some districts completely disorganized^ we are still assured
that God reigns. . . . For ourselves we can but express an earnest
desire that since God has been pleased to spare us for further service^
our lives may in the future be more than ever devoted to Him, and
that these solemn events so far from discouraging us may be an in-
centive to more strenuous efforts by prayer and consecrated labour,
both on the part of the home churches and of the workers in the field,
for the evangelization of this needy land.
In this spirit the task and problems of reconstruction
were faced. There had been some not unfounded anxiety
lest the Chinese and Foreign Governments might put certain
hindrances in the way of missionaries, and especially of
ladies, returning to the interior when the crisis was over.
This difficulty happily did not arise, and the Mission found,
in spite of considerable criticism from certain quarters,
sincere sympathy and help from those who officially repre-
sented the respective Governments.
It had been a sore trial to Mr. Hudson Taylor that he
had been unable through ill-health to be in China during the
crisis. As the weeks of anxiety and sorrow passed, it became
increasingly doubtful whether he would ever be able to take
up again the heavy responsibilities of directing the work in
the field. He therefore felt the need of appointing some one
in his place, lest the heavy strain upon Mr. Stevenson should
prove more than he could bear. When the news of Mr.
William Cooper's death came to hand, this need became
increasingly evident. The question of a successor had been
one over which Mr. Taylor had long and earnestly prayed
and pondered, and in March 190 1, Mr. Dixon Edward
Hoste was appointed Acting General Director, the appoint-
ment having previously received the cordial approval of
Mr. Stevenson and of the Councils of the Mission in China
and at home.
To take over the control of the Mission at such a time
was no easy task, for the work had been largely disorganized,
and many serious and exacting questions had to be faced
and dealt with. In the task of reorganization, one problem
in particular had to be carefully and prayerfully considered,
and that was the Mission's attitude toward compensation.
Long before the general question arose, it had been raised
REBUILDING THE WALL 257
locally by the Governor of Chekiang, who was anxious
without delay to make what reparation was possible for the
massacres at Chiichowfu. Mr. Taylor, who had been ap-
proached on this subject, had advised the Mission
" To claim for nothing, but to accept, where offered, compensation
for destroyed Mission premises and property ; as I feel," he wrote,
" we hold these on trust for God's work. . . .
" For injury or loss of life to refuse all compensation."
The Mission's attitude towards the problem of compensa-
tion to Chinese Christians was also discussed, though this
was regarded as a matter chiefly between the Chinese
Government and its own subjects.
These decisions, however, were subsequently modified
in the light of fuller knowledge and further consideration.
Thousands of Chinese, many of them as innocent as the
missionaries, had been ruined and robbed of their all, and
sometimes slain through the action of the allied troops,
whose conduct was not always beyond reproach. The
importance of making clear to the Chinese the distinction
between the principles which govern the action of mission-
aries, as witnesses to Christ and the Gospel, and those of the
temporal power, as entrusted with the vindication of law
and order, was more and more recognized as the extent of
the losses and sufferings inflicted upon the Chinese became
known. It was felt that an admirable opportunity presented
itself of showing to the Chinese, in a way that they could
readily appreciate, " the meekness and gentleness of Christ " ;
and therefore it was finally decided not only not to enter
any claim against the Chinese Government, but to refrain
from accepting compensation even if offered. Though the
damage to property amounted to many thousands of pounds,
it was believed that if the policy adopted were glorifying to
God, He would provide what was necessary.
With this important question settled, the policy of the
Mission was clear as soon as the way opened for workers to
return to the interior. As early as November short journeys
had been permitted, and gradually the more distant stations
became accessible. In March 1901 the public Memorial
s
258 THE FOURTH DECADE
and Burial Services of the martyrs at Paotingfu took place,
and in June a company of eight missionaries, representing
the Societies affected, started for Shansi — Messrs. D. E.
Hoste, A. Orr Ewing, C. H. Tjader, and Ernest Taylor being
those connected with the CT.M. Taiyuanfu, the capital,
was reached on July 9, the first anniversary of the terrible
massacre in that city. Here the party were officially
received, and impressive Memorial and Burial Services were
held, somewhat similar gatherings being subsequently con-
ducted at the other centres where workers had fallen.
Following these Memorial Services and the acceptance of
an Official Apology, the many different questions connected
with indemnity to the Chinese Christians and the cases of
those who had recanted had to be dealt with. The Governor
of Shansi had spontaneously offered indemnity to the
Chinese converts ; and a list of reliable men with whom the
Chinese Foreign Office could deal in each district had to be
drawn up, two of the leading Christians being appointed
as general overseers.
At the same time a statement of the Mission's losses was
made to the Taotai of the Foreign Office, who was then
informed that no compensation for these losses would be
accepted. This conduct called forth from, the Governor of
the province a remarkable proclamation, which was posted
up in every centre where the Mission had suffered. The
exceptional tone of this proclamation had undoubtedly a
good effect throughout the province, and went a long way
to re-establish friendly feelings when the missionaries
returned. Some extracts from this document are worth
recording here :
The Governor hereby notifies by proclamation that^ in the second
paragraph of the agreement made by Mr. Hoste with the Foreign
Office at Taiyuanfu, it is stated that the C.I.M. wishes no indemnity
for the chapels and dwelling-houses that had been erected or bought
in the following fifteen cities, etc. (Here follow the names.)
The Mission requests the Governor to issue a proclamation, to be
hung up in each of the Church buildings for the erection of which no
indemnity has been asked, stating that the Mission, in rebuilding
these Churches with its own funds, aims in so doing to fulfil the
command of the Saviour of the World, that all men should love
REBUILDING THE WALL 259
their neighbours as themselves. . . . Contrasting the way in which
we have been treated by the missionaries with our treatment of them,
how can any one who has the least regard for right and reason not
feel ashamed of this behaviour. . . . Jesus ^ in His instructions
inculcates forbearance and forgiveness, and all desire for revenge is
discouraged. Mr. Hoste is able to carry out these principles to the
full. . . . From this time forward I charge you all, gentry, scholars,
army, and people, those of you who are fathers to exhort your sons,
and those who are elder sons to exhort your younger brothers, to bear
in mind the example of Pastor Hoste, who is able to forbear and to
forgive as taught by Jesus to do.
This proclamation posted up throughout the province
was an object-lesson to all, and was calculated to do more
to make known the spirit of Jesus Christ than many years
of preaching, and from this standpoint alone was worth
far more than any amount of compensation.
Without following in detail the reopening of the work
in other provinces, it may suffice to say that in little more
than a year from the outbreak of the troubles, Mission work
had been resumed in most parts of China. The Peace
protocol was not signed officially until September 1901,
and in this China's aged statesman H. E. Li Hung-chang
performed his last service to his country. It is somewhat
pathetic to-day to read, in his recently published Diary,
his feelings at that time. We have seen how he, with others,
attempted to turn the Empress-Dowager from the folly of
her way. Now he was called upon to do what in him lay
to remedy the evil. When the call came for him to go to
Peking to open negotiations, he wrote :
A rest of a few days, and then I will proceed to Peking to stay the
hand of the Powers as much as in me lies. Oh, if my own hand were
not so weak, and my cause so much weaker ! The Court is in hiding
and the people are distracted. There is no Government, and chaos
reigns. I fear the task before me is too great for my strength of body,
though I would do one thing more before I call the earthly battle over.
I would have the foreigners believe in us once more ; and not deprive
1 Throughout the proclamation the Name of Jesus was " exalted,"
that is, was hfted up above the head of the Une — Chinese being written
perpendicularly — which is the Chinese way of honouring a name or person.
26o THE FOURTH DECADE
China of her National life ; and I would like to bring " old Buddha " ^
back to the palace^ and ask her if she had learned her lesson.
Li Hung-chang's mission was successful, though he never
lived to see the Empress-Dowager again ; for within two
months of the completion of his task, and long before the
Court returned to Peking, he breathed his last.
The Court returned to the capital in January 1902, and
later on in the same year the foreign Governments permitted
ladies to return to Shansi, thus removing the last restriction
imposed upon missionary labour since the outbreak of
persecution.
^ A sobriquet for the Empress-Dowager.
THE FIFTH DECADE
1905-1915
Chap. 40. A Period of Transition.
„ 41. Mass Movements and Revival.
„ 42. Grace Abounding.
„ 43. To Earth's Remotest Bounds.
„ 44. Institutional Work.
„ 45. Facts about Finance.
„ 46. The Mission from Within.
„ 47. The Revolution and After.
„ 48. The Missionary at Work.
„ 49. All Manner of Service.
;, 50. The Year of Jubilee.
261
I have no faith whatever in organizations except so far as they are a
useful means for making known a truth or dispensing help to those who
need it ; and when they are completely subordinated to those ends. They
are apt to become a snare to those who invent them and w^ork them, unless
great care is taken to revive continually within them the life by which
alone they can usefully exist. . . .
All my care is for the principle which we have been called to proclaim,
not for the machinery through which the drudgery of the work has been
facilitated. God does not need our poor machinery. He can create other
methods of spreading a truth, if those now existing had better come to an
end.
There is a deep meaning in that mysterious vision of Ezekiel, of the
living creatures and the wings. They were together lifted up from the
earth, and guided through space as God willed ; the wheels, wheels within
wheels, an intricate mechanism, moved upwards and onwards, with the
ease and power of a soaring eagle, because the Spirit was in the wheels,
the Spirit which was as a lamp of fire and as lightning. I have sometimes
thought if the Spirit had left those creatures and that mass of wheels, with
what a crash they would have come down to the ground ! So long as we
have that Spirit, even our wheels will have life, and our humble organization
will continue, as it has done till now, to glide past all dangers and to win
true hearts to our cause.
Josephine E. Butler.
XL
A PERIOD OF TRANSITION
The battle of the reactionary party in China had been
fought and lost during the Boxer crisis, and the years which
followed became in a marked sense years of transition.
The great Siberian railway, hnking up the eastern and
western hemispheres, was opened in 1901, and the trunk
line, uniting Peking to Hankow, was, apart from the Yellow
River bridge, completed by 1904. These and other railways,
together with the introduction of a new Postal system,
played an important part in modernizing China.
During the same period there was rapid growth in the
area and importance of the ports in China. At Tientsin,
for instance, the Foreign Concession increased from 510
acres to 3860 acres within four years. At Shanghai the
Japanese residents multiphed three times within five years,
and the quinquennial census of 1905 showed a foreign
population of 12,000 persons. Foreign trade advanced
with equal rapidity.
A few years before the Boxer crisis the only papers
published in China — apart from the official Gazettes — were
edited by missionaries ; whereas, by 1905 there were more
than 150 papers and periodicals controlled, for the most
part, by non-Christian men. An analysis, made about this
time, of foreign works translated into Chinese and on the
China market gave a list of 2361 books.
Educationally China was passing through a period of
change amounting almost to a revolution. Colleges for
western learning were opened in rapid succession in nearly
263
264 THE FIFTH DECADE
all the provincial capitals, and in September 1905 the old
educational system was abolished by edict. In Peking the
old Examination Hall was transformed into a Naval College,
and the Peking University took over a site of 3000 Enghsh
acres for necessary enlargements. Chinese students also
flocked to Japan, where nearly 9000 were in residence during
1905. Concurrently with this greater opening of mind
towards western learning was the more friendly attitude of
Chinese officials and gentry towards the work of Christian
missions. The terrible war between Russia and Japan,
which lasted from February 5, 1904, to August 12, 1905,
did not seriously disturb the work in China Proper, though
it ushered in a new period in European and Asiatic history.
Turning from these public events, we note that this
period was also marked by important changes within the
Mission. As already recorded, Mr. Taylor had found in
1900 that ill-health prevented him from bearing any longer
the burden of leadership, and had therefore appointed Mr.
D. E. Hoste as Acting General Director. Absence from
the field and almost entire rehef from responsibilities did
not secure any marked restoration to health, so toward the
close of 1902 Mr. Taylor finally decided to retire from the
office of General Director. On January i, 1903, he definitelj^
appointed Mr. D. E. Hoste to the position from which he
had retired, a position which Mr. Hoste had already held
in an acting capacity for nearly two years.
In preparation for these great responsibilities, Mr. Hoste
had, as the colleague of Pastor Hsi for about ten years, and
as Superintendent of the work in Shansi and later in Honan,
obtained an intimate acquaintance with the problems and
trials of life and work in the interior. And to the arduous
task of directing so large a Mission, he brought in addition
a mind and character disciplined by long thought on the
problems of the work, a clear insight into the secrets of
spiritual leadership, a wide grasp of detail, tact, and, above
all things, a spirit habituated to prayer. During the more
than fourteen years which have elapsed since this burden
of leadership was accepted the Mission has grown from a
membership of about 750 to more than 1050 — with corre-
A PERIOD OF TRANSITION 265
spending development in all departments — and the passage
of these years has only increased the Mission's loyalty to
and thankfulness for the man of God's choice.
In June 1905 Mr. Taylor, five years after his breakdown,
was suddenly summoned Home to his reward. For the
greater part of this time of retirement he had resided in
Switzerland, following with the deepest interest and sym-
pathy the progress of the work, though debarred from much
active participation. Early in 1905, some months after
the death of his beloved wife, Mr. Taylor decided, though
in feeble health, to visit China once more. Shanghai was
reached on April 17, in company with Dr. and Mrs. Howard
Taylor. The following weeks were something hke a
triumphal procession for this aged warrior. Several stations
on the Yangtze were visited, and five stations in Honan,
where the Chinese converts gave touching demonstrations of
their love and affection for the one who had suffered and
accomplished so much for their native land.
From Hankow the party proceeded to Changsha, the
capital of Hunan. This famous city was reached on June i,
and on Saturday, June 3, Dr. and Mrs. Keller planned a
reception for all the missionaries resident in the city — some
thirty in all, representing six or seven Societies. Tea was
served in the httle garden, and a quiet and happy time was
enjoyed. That evening, without a word or struggle, Mr.
Taylor's weary spirit winged its flight to realms of day.
In such a Home-Call there was almost a dramatic fitness.
More than fifty-one years had passed since he had first landed
on China's shores, years spent in unremitting toil and self-
denying labour for the opening up of the closed interior,
and now his work was done. Hunan, the last province to be
opened to the Gospel, had been visited, and in its capital,
for which he had so often prayed, he was permitted, in spirit
at least, to say hke Simeon of old :
Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart, 0 Lord, according to Thy
word, in peace^ for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.
With chastened and solemnized hearts the Mission
reahzed something of its loss and of the increased responsi-
266 THE FIFTH DECADE
bility which thus devolved upon it to maintain the traditions
and the spirit of its revered founder and leader. With a
fresh consecration and with renewed confidence the future
was faced, the kind providence of God being recognized,
which had spared the beloved founder and leader during
these years of transition to strengthen by prayer, counsel,
and moral influence the hands of the one called upon to be
his successor.
C\.
- f
,1 --'W^ yWi
V
Photos by
Group of Chinese Workejis.
Not having portraits of the Chinese pastors of the Mission, this group of Evangelists at work in
Hunan is given to show some of the men engaged in evangelizing China.
^' ^ii'^'^./"^^"^"' ^ converted 2. Cheng Yiiin-t'ao, Head Evan- 3. Han En-show (see footnote,
Buddhist Priest. gelist. p. 233).
4. T'ien Hsin-pei, Head Evan- 5. Hsiao Mo-Kwang, Head Evan- ^ ^, rr • t ^ ,
gelist. gelist ^- Chow Kwei-lin, Colporteur.
7. WuPao-lin, formerly a Soldier. 8. Ts'ao I-lin, a converted Actor. 9. Wang Fuh-ting, Colporteur.
To face page 267.
XLI
MASS MOVEMENTS AND REVIVAL
During the period of transition, spoken of in the previous
chapter, mass movements towards Christianity began to
manifest themselves in different parts of China, and these
were followed by a wave of spiritual revival which swept
over many of the Churches of the land. So widespread and
general were the movements of those days that it is not
possible to describe the experiences of one Mission without
the use of general terms, for all Missions more or less
participated and became mutual helpers one of another.
The work of God is one, and when God's Spirit is poured
forth this unity or common participation in blessing is
felt by all.
It was during the year 1902 that the mass movements
were first noticed, especially in Szechwan. Like the prodigal
son in the parable, who was moved by hunger to think of
his father's home, many of those who at this time professed
an interest in Christianity, did so with the hope of temporal
benefit. The collapse of the Boxer movement had demon-
strated the might of foreign nations, and many therefore
sought the friendship of the foreigner, especially those who
desired to escape the unrighteous fleecing of rapacious
officials, or assistance in lawsuits with Roman Catholics.
Considerable discussion arose among the missionaries as to
what was the correct attitude to adopt towards these move-
ments ; some thought it their duty to let them alone as
unspiritual ; while others, fully recognizing the ulterior
motives, regarded them as God -given opportunities.
267
268 THE FIFTH DECADE
Wealthy Chinese in many centres were subscribing large
sums of money for the opening of Gospel halls, and the
questions which had to be faced were, Shall these halls be
left to themselves no matter what evil consequences follow ?
or, Shall they be utihzed and the movement controlled and
guided ?
In many stations the missionaries were perfectly be-
wildered by the lands and buildings freely offered by the
people, and by the hundreds of would-be enquirers desiring
to be enrolled. Shop-owners offered their shops as chapels,
and crowds gathered daily to hear the Gospel. Mr. Montagu
Beauchamp, to use Bishop Cassels' words, was " almost
pulled to pieces by people wanting him north, south, east
and west, many days' journey off from the position in which
he was located." And Mr. Beauchamp's experiences are
only given as typical of others. The phrase " as never
before " became a commonplace in reports and speeches of
that day — " Men crowd into our preaching halls as never
before " ; " there is an eagerness for education as never
before " ; " there is a friendliness towards the missionary
such as there never was before."
In 1905 Bishop Cassels reported : " In my own district,
during the last seven years, our central stations have
increased three-fold, our out-stations more than ten-fold,
and our opportunities certainly more than a hundred-fold."
With such golden openings the Bishop had to report that
the reinforcements of foreign workers for the fields thus
white unto harvest in his district gave " a net increase of
three men." This was the grievous element in this wonder-
ful movement, for subsequent events proved that in those
places where experienced workers were appointed, a per-
manent work in most cases became established ; whereas,
in those centres where the movements were neglected, or
perforce left alone, they either lapsed or hopelessly de-
teriorated.
It was from this period that a rapid and permanent
increase in baptisms commenced. Twenty years earlier
the annual number of baptisms reported by the Mission
was about 400 ; by 1895 the figure had risen to 700 ; ten
MASS MOVEMENTS AND REVIVAL 269
years later it had reached the sum of 2500 ; and during the
last two years the annual baptisms have been 4500 and 5000
respectively.
Following this mass movement, a quickening of the
Church began to be felt throughout China. At the Shanghai
Missionary Conference of 1907 a resolution was unanimously
adopted calling for united prayer that God would raise up
men with special evangelistic gifts, whom He could use in
reviving the life of the Churches, and in gathering in the
tens of thousands who already had some knowledge of the
Gospel. Immediately following this conference, the Rev. J.
Goforth of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission, who had for
years been much exercised on the subject of revivals, was
unexpectedly requested to escort a deputation from his
Home Board to Korea, where a great spiritual awakening
was in progress. When returning through Manchuria, Mr.
Goforth was used of God to spread the flame of revival in
that land, and in the autumn of 1908 he was invited to visit
some of the C.I.M. stations in Shansi. During his visit
many of the Christians were deeply moved, and especially
those who were able to attend more than one series of
meetings.
One of the men who received most help was a young
evangelist named Wang Chi-t'ai, who had previously devoted
much time to the study of God's Word and prayer. At the
conclusion of Mr. Goforth's mission Mr. Albert Lutley,
accompanied by this evangehst, made a tour of the Mission
stations north and west of Hungtung, in order to attend the
usual autumn conferences. The first Sunday was spent at
the station of Hwochow, where a wave of confession and
prayer broke over the congregation when Mr. Lutley was
preaching. This experience, which came as a great surprise,
appeared to show that the Holy Spirit was working power-
fully in the hearts of the people, and in consequence the
order of the conference at the more northerly station,
Kiehsiu, was changed so as to allow more time for quiet
waiting upon God. Here the work deepened from day
to day. BacksHders were re-established ; quarrels were
settled ; jealousy, envy, and other sins were confessed, and
270 THE FIFTH DECADE
forgiveness sought ; stolen property was restored, and in
short the general spiritual life of the Church was raised.
During the closing days of this conference the love of God
was shed abroad in the hearts of those present in a remark-
able manner, and an intense desire was begotten in the
hearts of all for the salvation of their heathen relations and
neighbours. This gracious work spread from station to
station, and during the autumn and winter of 1908 and 1909
similar meetings were conducted in nearly all the C.I.M.
stations in Shansi. In all these meetings Evangehst Wang
took a prominent part. His messages, which were usually
an exposition of a passage from one of the minor Prophets,
or referred to the sufferings of Christ, were dehvered very
quietly, without demonstration or excitement, and exercised
a remarkable power over those who heard him.
In the following spring Messrs. Lutley and Wang visited
the Sian Plain, and held meetings in the Churches of the
C.I.M., the Scandinavian Alhance Mission, and the Enghsh
Baptist Mission. The same general characteristics were
manifested throughout these gatherings, and many con-
versions took place among the boys and girls in the Missions'
Schools.
Early in January 1910 the same workers, accompanied
by a Christian servant, Wu-nien, started on a long overland
journey to Szechwan, in response to an urgent invitation
from the missionaries there. In the light of what followed,
it is interesting to quote the following words from Bishop
Cassels' report on the East Szechwan district for 1909 :
We greatly need the breath of revival, which we hear is being felt
in many places throughout China ; and we have a very distinct ex-
pectation that ere long we shall ourselves feel that life-giving and
refreshing breath ; that the Spirit of God will be poured out upon us,
and that He will do better unto us than at the beginning, so that the
wilderness shall become a pool of water, and the dry land springs of
water. May God grant it for His glory.
The meetings so much desired commenced at Kwangyuan,
in the north of the province, on Chinese New Year's day, and
the mission lasted for about six months, all Societies labour-
ing in the province heartily co-operating. In nearly every
MASS MOVEMENTS AND REVIVAL 271
centre the same deep conviction of sin characterized the
meetings, the sense of God's personal presence being fre-
quently so real that the whole congregation would fall on
their knees with their faces to the ground, and waves of
prayer and confession, accompanied with weeping, would
pass over the assembly. Most touching scenes were wit-
nessed when the pastors or Church leaders w^ould rise, and
with deep emotion confess their failures to their flock ; when
brothers who had been long estranged sought each other
out and made mutual confession ; when children confessed
to parents and parents to children ; when prodigals came,
and kneeling at their parents' feet, asked for forgiveness ;
or when those who had been long at enmity knelt together
confessing their sins to one another and to God amid in-
describable outbursts of weeping and joy.
Bishop Cassels, when reporting on the work of 1910, was
able to show how God had fulfilled the desires and prayer
expressed in the report of the previous year. The following
are a few sentences from his report for 1910 :
It would be easy to fill over and over again the space at our disposal
by describing in detail the work done in these meetings^ and it would
be easy to give numbers of individual cases of those who received
blessing. All that is possible here is to give a general idea of the
meetings, and to add a few remarks about the permanent results. . . .
The workers had thought the Chinese stolid and unemotional, but even
those who had seen most of mission or revival work at home, had never
before witnessed such moving scenes as during these meetings out
here. . . .
Scoffers might call the work by an evil name ; unbelievers might
laugh at the unusual scenes ; hard hearts might for a time resist the
influence ; but those whose eyes were opened and whose hearts were
touched, felt indeed that now, if never before, they had been brought
into touch with the powers of the other world, and with the mighty
working of the Spirit of God.
At the close of the mission to Szechwan Mr. Lutley
visited the stations of the Swedish Holiness Union and the
Swedish Alliance Mission in North Shansi, where the same
gracious work of the Holy Spirit was witnessed. In the
summer and autumn of 1911 another mission, lasting about
four months, was conducted among the Churches in Kansu
272 THE FIFTH DECADE
and Shensi. Similar manifestations of blessing attended
this work, and in addition one of the most encouraging
features was the number of conversions. At Liangchow a
Chinese servant restored a large box filled with things he
had stolen from his master. At Lanchow a Christian, who
for years previously had wrongly used a certain sum of
money, restored that amount twofold. At Minchow the
sense of the Divine presence was so overpowering that
heathen gentry were seen to prostrate themselves on the
floor as soon as they entered the building, and some who
had openly opposed the Gospel spontaneously stood up
and confessed their faith in Christ. At several stations a
wonderful spirit of liberality manifested itself among those
who had been blessed. Women and girls took o^ their
silver ornaments, and put them into the collection plate ;
while the men vied with one another in giving time and
money for the spread of the Gospel. This mission to the
north-west was brought to a close by some very remarkable
manifestations of Divine power in the meetings held at
Sianfu, where backsliders were restored and many others
were led to Christ.
Immediately after this mission the whole Chinese Empire
was convulsed with the revolution, and the holding of
further meetings became impracticable. The minds of the
Christians became so absorbed with the political situation,
and with their own personal safety, that the revival move-
ment largely ceased. It should be mentioned, however,
that Mr. Goforth had been holding similar missions in other
parts of China, and some of the men who received blessing
through his ministry have continued to be used of God
ever since. Among these we may mention Evangelist
Hsieh of Anhwei. Mr. Hsieh had been blessed through one
of Mr. Goforth's missions in Hon an, and on returning to his
own province he conducted similar meetings at Anking,
Ningkwofu, and other centres. His testimony was so
blessed that he was invited to hold meetings among the
Churches of Kiangsu, Honan, and Shansi, where his ministry
has been much appreciated. His special work has been
to stir up the Churches to more aggressive witnessing for
MASS MOVEMENTS AND REVIVAL 273
Christ, and to a fuller realization of their responsibiHty
towards self-support. Dr. Yao has had a similar ministry
in the province of Kiangsi.
Some years have passed since this revival movement
was at its height, and though the emotional manifestations
have passed away, and time has even proved that some
who were most subject to emotion were the least stable, yet
the work of grace of that period has left a lasting mark upon
the work of God. The tide of worldliness within the Church
was stemmed ; elements of strain, which had arisen in
certain stations between the foreign and Chinese workers,
were relieved, and the standard of holiness was raised. In
short, the Church in China v/as, as it were, born again, and
brought to a realization of her place in the Body of Christ.
It is worthy of special note that this same period of
blessing was marked by the inauguration of that anti-opium
campaign in China, and of the British Government's policy
of gradual suppression of sale in India, which have led to
the final cessation of the Indo-China opium traffic. It is
significant that a week of prayer for China, held in Great
Britain, preceded the Government's resolution of May 30,
1906, to co-operate wdth China in the suppression of that
trade, and that another even more memorable day of
prayer, Sunday, April 27, 1913, appointed by the Chinese
Government, preceded the British Government's decision,
announced on May 7, 1913, to finally relinquish the evil
trade. Surely the synchronizing of such moral and spiritual
movements mark this period as an eventful one in China's
history.
XLII
GRACE ABOUNDING
One of the outstanding features of the spiritual awakening
in China, mentioned in the previous chapter, was the turning
to God of thousands of the much-despised and oppressed
hill -tribes of the south-west provinces. In an earlier
chapter ^ the story of suffering and persecution in the region
of Panghai has been told. It is now our pleasant task to
relate something of the striking triumphs of the Gospel
amongst these people in other districts.
Three days to the south-west of Kweiyang, the capital of
Kweichow, is the city of Anshunfu. All around this city,
even to within two or three miles of its walls, are villages
inhabited by the Flowery Miao. Two days to the north
begin the estates and residences of their Nosu landlords,
which stretch away throughout the 150 miles of hill country,
until the neighbouring province of Yunnan is reached.
In the year 1888 Mr. J. R. Adam, just one year after his
arrival in China, settled in Anshunfu, where Mr. Windsor
had already rented premises. Considerable opposition was
experienced at first, and Mr. Adam, who was left alone after
Mr. Windsor's removal to the capital, was temporarily
driven from the city. A settlement was, however, subse-
quently gained, and the outlying cities were visited, but
not without experiencing considerable and sometimes
violent hostihty. As early as 1889 Mr. Adam's attention
was drawn to the picturesque tribes-people, clad in their
many-coloured dress. Work was commenced among them,
1 See Chapter XXXVI. p. 237.
274
GRACE ABOUNDING 275
though up to the time of his first furlough in 1896 none
were baptized.
Upon returning from his furlough this work was resumed,
and in 1898 the first candidates for baptism were enrolled.
In the following year the first Miao chapel was built in a
village distant about two miles from the city, and by the
beginning of 1900 crowds of these interesting people were
regularly visiting the mission station. When the Boxer
outbreak compelled the workers to retire from the interior,
it was estimated that visitors from the Flowery and Water
Miao represented as many as 250 villages and hamlets.
Though many of the young enquirers fell away during
this period of persecution, a few tens of the Flowery Miao
held on faithfully, and in 1902 some twenty of them were
baptized.
With the resumption of the work, after the Boxer crisis,
a new stage was reached. The first chapel, mentioned
above, was closed, as a more hopeful work was opening up
some twenty miles farther north among the Water Miao
(Shiu-hsi Miao). For a long time no Miao had been willing
to take the foreigner across the river which separated the
territory of the Water Miao from the Flowery Miao, it being
believed that the Chinese would kill them if they did so.
One of the greatest obstacles to work among these tribes
from the first was the Chinese fear of rebelHon, and the
missionary's activities among them were frequently re-
garded with the greatest suspicion, and became in some
cases causes of persecution. At length, however, Mr. Adam
secured an introduction to the tribes beyond the river
through the Flowery Miao evangelist. This visit was
greatly prospered of God, and the people began at once to
visit the city for Christian worship. From village to village
interest in the Gospel spread with great rapidity, and ere
long scores of villages were represented in the city congrega-
tion. The response to the Gospel was remarkable, and
the people committed wholesale to the flames their charms,
sorcerer's wands, " spirit packets," and other paraphernalia
used in demon worship.
In 1903 a company of hunters belonging to the Great
276 THE FIFTH DECADE
Flowery Miao, a people distinguished by their horn-like
head-dress, came into contact with Mr. Adam when they
were returning from a boar hunt. From him they heard
the Gospel, and carried back the glad tidings to their tribe.
Within three years from this date they had built their own
chapel at Lanlungchiao, three days north of Anshunfu, and
had a Church of 250 baptized communicants, with hundreds
of interested enquirers.
Meanwhile, these same people had carried the Message
of Salvation to their old home, six days farther west, whence
they had emigrated twenty years before. Here, in the
Weining district, more than forty thousand of their kinsfolk
were living, and this more distant tribe, not content with
second-hand reports, sent two deputations to Anshunfu to
investigate the truth personally, but not before they had
learned the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, a
number of hymns, and many facts about the work and life
of Christ.
One member of the second deputation, a man who
adopted at his baptism the name of Paul, returned to his
village of Kopu and started Divine Worship in his own home.
Every Lord's Day he gathered a company of some two
hundred people into his house for prayer and praise, and
the reading of God's Word, and Kopu soon became the chief
centre of a great work throughout that district. As the
news spread, companies of twenty, forty, and fifty tribesmen
would come down to the mission house at Anshunfu, all
eager for instruction, until at times as many as three hundred
were being entertained together.
Through these enquirers Mr. Adam ascertained that
the homes of some of them were not far from Chaotung, in
the neighbouring province of Yunnan. As the United
Methodists had a station there, it seemed desirable that
these enquirers should be put in touch with that station,
and thus be saved the nine or ten days' journey over
difficult mountain country. A letter of introduction to the
Rev. S. Pollard was therefore given to them, and these
seekers after Christ were, as all who know Mr. Pollard will
believe, received with open arms and heart. Ere long Mr.
GRACE ABOUNDING 277
Pollard found himself well-nigh overwhelmed with crowds
of earnest enquirers, and thus it was that the glorious work
of grace swept across from Kweichow into the neighbouring
province.
The limits of this chapter and the scope of this book
will not allow of any details concerning the great work Mr.
Pollard was permitted to see and engage in. With a whole-
hearted devotion, which, on one occasion at least, very nearly
cost him his life, he espoused the spiritual interests of these
people, and to-day he and his fellow- workers are rejoicing in
a Church of more than four thousand aborigines who have
publicly confessed Christ by baptism, together with some
seven thousand others enrolled as candidates or enquirers.
But the wave of blessing did not stop here, but swept
on another 150 miles to the south-west, to come again into
touch with the C.I.M. Some seventy or eighty years earlier
there had been a migration of Miao from the Chaotung
district down towards Wutingchow, some two or three days'
journey north of the capital of the province, and intercourse
between these two districts had been maintained throughout.
Early in 1906 some of the Christian Miao from Chaotung,
when visiting their relatives at Sapushan, north of Wuting-
chow, saw two men afflicted with leprosy, whom they advised
to come over and see the Chaotung doctor — Dr. Savin.
This they did, and at the same time came into touch with
Mr. Pollard, who at once put himself into communication
with the C.LM. workers in Yunnan. The result was that
Mr. Arthur G. Nicholls was appointed to this work, and after
a helpful time of study of the language and of the people,
in company with Mr. Pollard, he took up residence among
the tribes at Sapushan in October 1906. From this time
onward the closest bond between the work and workers at
Chaotung and at Sapushan has been maintained, in fact, it
should be mentioned that when Mr. Nicholls left to start
his work, the Chaotung Church appointed four evangelists
to accompany him, these men to be that Church's repre-
sentatives.
As at Anshunfu and at Chaotung, so now at Sapushan, the
Good News of Salvation spread like a prairie fire from
278 THE FIFTH DECADE
village to village. Idolatry and wine-drinking were put
away, the brothels were closed, opium pipes were smashed,
and charms of all descriptions were discouraged. From the
commencement services were held every evening as well as
on Sunday, and ere long chapels were built, thatched with
the grass cut from the hillsides, which chapels were erected
by the tribes themselves. Sapushan, which is situated some
1500 ft. above the valley, and about 8500 ft. above the
level of the sea, soon became an important centre for work
among the many tribes living in the hills around.
In 1907 the Lesu tribe were brought under the sound of
the Gospel through the influence of the Miao living to the
north. In 1908 the Laka tribe heard the Good News through
the instrumentality of these Lesu, and they, too, claimed
recognition. Among both these tribes the work has grown,
until now services are held in from fifty to a hundred villages
among each tribe, while hundreds of families are showing
more or less interest in the Gospel.
In 1 910 another tribe, the Kopu as they call themselves,
or the Kang-e, as the Chinese designate them, came under
the influence of the same movement through the instru-
mentality of some Miao living to the east. Later on a
number of Nosu came forward as enquirers, and more
recently work has commenced among the Red-e, the White
Miao, the Shans, and Chungkia.
In rapidly sketching the spread of this remarkable
rehgious awakening from its beginning in Kweichow, first
at Anshunfu, then at Chaotung, and finally at Sapushan, we
have not attempted to give details concerning the work
itself. In Kweichow Mr. and Mrs. Adam were for the
greater part of the time single-handed, so far as foreign help
was concerned, but more recently Dr. and Mrs. Fish have
gone to take charge of a hospital specially built for work
among the tribes, while several German women associates
of the C.I.M. have been designated for service among these
people. In Yunnan Mr. Nicholls, who lost his wife in 1903,
has had as colleagues Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone Porteous,
Mr. G. E. Metcalf, and more recently Mr. and Mrs. Gowman.
The rapidity with which the work has grown in recent
GRACE ABOUNDING
279
years is most remarkable. Up to the close of 1905 less than
300 persons had been baptized, whereas, in 1906 alone no
fewer than 1480 persons were publicly received into the
Church. Mr. Curtis Waters, who temporarily took charge
of the work at Anshunfu during Mr. Adam's furlough, when
questioned as to the wisdom of receiving so many candidates
at once, replied :
I could no more have held back than the Apostle, who said^ " Can
any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized ? " The
work is manifestly the work of the Holy Spirit. The utter impossi-
bility of any man teaching all these people attests it. With an un-
questioning faith they simply accept the Gospel teaching, which
becomes real to them, and God, who has hidden these things from the
wise and prudent, has revealed them unto babes.
The passage of years has confirmed the view then taken,
for of the more than five thousand persons baptized in the
Anshunfu district during recent years, less than i per cent
have been known to fall away. As already mentioned,
more than four thousand have been received into the Church
in the Chaotung district, and though at Sapushan the numbers
have not been so large, the total baptisms being somewhat
less than a thousand, there are many enquirers and large
numbers waiting to be received.
These tribes are wholly illiterate, though traces of some
crude hieroglyphics formerly used by them are still to be
found here and there ; but the people have manifested an
astonishing eagerness to learn, and from the first efforts
have been made to give them the Scriptures in their own
tongue. In Kweichow, Mr. Adam has made use of the
ordinary romanized system ; but in Yunnan, both at
Chaotung and at Sapushan, a special script prepared by
Mr. Pollard has been adopted, which script has been found
admirably suited to the needs of the various tribes.
The transformation which has come over the lives of
these people is nothing less than a miracle of grace. Twenty
years ago they were living in the grossest state of immorality
and superstition. So low had they sunk that their generalty
accepted customs cannot be described, yet to-day thousands
upon thousands of them have been " washed, sanctified and
28o THE FIFTH DECADE
justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and in the Spirit of
our God." The hills which formerly were familiar with
scenes of shame now resound with the praises of God.
The Bible, too, has become a household Book, and
Scripture names have been adopted by all Church members.
Formerly they possessed only the sur- or family-name, the
different members of a family being distinguished by
numerals. Now at baptism a levy is made upon the pages
of the Old and New Testaments. The names of apostles
and prophets, of priests and princes, of ancient men and
women of reno\\Ti have all become familiar. To find names
for hundreds of candidates is alone no easy task. It is
possible to have too many Marks and Johns, or Marthas and
Marys, so there are Naomis and Rebeccas, Priscillas and
Tryphenas, Asas and Jehosophats, Boazes and Salmons,
Sosthenes and Alexanders. And what is more, each recipient
of a new name always wants to know the history of his or her
namesake, and so the Bible characters and stories soon
become topics of daily conversation.
Two rules enforced in regard to baptism show how truly
these people desire to manifest a real repentance, while at
the same time they throw a striking light upon their previous
manners of life. No candidate is received unless he or she
promises neither to make, sell, nor use whisky, which drink
in the past has been their curse. This rule not only com-
mends itself to the missionaries, but also to the conscience
of the Miao believers. No one ever thinks of questioning
the wisdom of such a regulation. The other rule, which
may seem strange to the reader unfamihar with the in-
describable conditions of their former state, is that no young
unmarried person shall be baptized. It is possible that in
the process of years, when the influence of Christian homes
has had time to make itself felt, this rule may be relaxed,
but meanwhile, the wisdom of it is not questioned by those
qualified to judge.
One of the most noteworthy features of all this work has
been the way it has spread with very little assistance on the
part of foreign workers. The few who have laboured among
these people have, it is true, been " in labours more abund-
GRACE ABOUNDING 281
ant," but only the abounding grace of God and the missionary
efforts of the people themselves can explain the rapid and
remarkable spread of the Gospel among this scattered and
hitherto down -trodden people. From persecution they
have by no means been exempted, but they have bravely
and nobly endured in times of adversity.
This picturesque people, dressed in their multi-coloured
garments and adorned with conspicuous brass ornaments,
have shown an astonishing eagerness to read the Word of
God and sing His praise. In reading they can easily weary
the most assiduous of teachers, and as for singing, they are
never tired of it. Before their meetings, the time of waiting
is spent in singing, and afterwards, as they gather around
their camp-fires in the guest homes, or in the open air, they
continue singing the songs of Zion far on into the night.
In receiving candidates for baptism, the missionary's
difficulty has been, not how many to receive, but how few.
Whole villages are nominally and practically Christian,
yet each individual has to give a reason for the hope that is
in him. Already more than ten thousand of these tribes-
people have been baptized, while tens of thousands are
pressing forward in their desire for Church recognition. If
the mission of Christ was to seek and to save the lost, and if
the proof of His Messiahship was that the poor had the
Gospel preached unto them, then the uplifting of this poor
and fallen people is a present-day evidence of the love of the
Son of Man and of the power of His Gospel to save.
XLIII
TO EARTH'S REMOTEST BOUNDS
The Love of God which has encompassed the despised
hill -tribes of China, has not excluded the even more in-
accessible inhabitants of closed Tibet, or the mixed popula-
tions of Chinese Turkestan. As God so loved the world,
that whosoever beheveth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life, the messengers of the Cross can put no
limit to their field of service. The high snow-clad mountains
of Tibet, or the arid wastes of Sinkiang, beckon him on, if
so be that any son of man has made such places his habitation.
No sooner had the way opened to inland China in 1876
than Dr. Cameron, one of the early band of pioneers, when
travelling west, visited the Tibetan Border, penetrating as
far as Batang, some thirty days west of Chengtu. What this
journey meant to him, and to others who followed him —
some of whom were women — can be gathered from the
following words of Mr. Huston Edgar :
The journey from Tatsienlu to Batang is no holiday excursion.
Rising on a ladder from the former town, which is about nine thousand
feet above sea-level, the traveller on the second day finds himself on
the high grasslands, which are a distinct feature of the higher regions
of Central Asia. This journey to Batang, covering nearly 400 miles
of such country, is perhaps the most arduous in the world. The simple
fact that twelve passes — the lowest 14,500 feet and the highest 17,000
feet — must be crossed, may be excelled in some parts of the world ; but
the claim of unsurpassed difiiculty may be excused by the following
relatively correct observation. In the nearly 400 miles traversed,
the traveller will find 180 miles over 13,000 feet, 120 miles somewhere
between 14,000 and 17,000, and of the remaining 80 miles only a paltry
282
TO EARTH'S REMOTEST BOUNDS 283
30 miles below 10,000 feet. In addition to this altitude must be added
the inadequate means of transport, the insanitary and unsuitable
accommodation, and the absence of centres where suitable provisions
may be bought.
Over this arduous country Dr. Cameron travelled in
1877. Eleven years later Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Polhill, with
a view to Tibetan work, settled at Siningfu, an important
city on the borders of Kokonor. Here the study of the
Tibetan language was commenced, with the assistance of an
old Mongol, who had been companion to Messieurs Hue
and Gabet at Lhasa. Friendly intercourse was soon obtained
with a learned Buddhist abbot, Hving in a monastery four
days distant, and through him special facilities for the study
of the language and the preaching of the Gospel were
obtained. After a residence of five months in a Tibetan
village, the last village before tent habitation was reached,
Mr. Polhill moved with his family to Sungpan, from which
place, however, they were ejected after a serious riot. It
deserves to be mentioned that one of his Christian helpers
and a servant patiently endured a terrible beating by the
official, in order that the mob might be appeased, and the
Polhills allowed to escape.
When Mr. and Mrs. Polhill afterwards expressed their
horror and indignation at the truly frightful treatment these
men had received, their helper Wang only said :
Oh, it was nothing ; it was for Jesu's sake.
Bishop Cassels, writing of this man, said :
" I was immensely struck with his behaviour. There was no word
of complaint against the magistrate who had beaten him so terribly ;
on the contrary, he praised him saying he had done his best to allay
the riot. ... He said his heart was full of peace as he stood upon the
bank of the river, bound hand and foot, and expecting every moment
to be thrown in. He had just one regret. He regretted that he had
not yet confessed Christ in baptism, fearing that perhaps Christ would
not confess him as His disciple. I assured him," wrote the Bishop,
" that he had passed through a baptism of fire."
Such are some of the men, vv^hose names are unknown,
284 THE FIFTH DECADE
without whom the missionaries would have been practically
helpless.
Meanwhile, Miss Annie Taylor, in September 1892, left
Taochow in Kansu, which city she had opened the previous
year, accompanied by a faithful Tibetan servant. She
crossed the Yellow River, and passed through the Robber
Golck country and entered the Lhasa territory on the last
day of 1892. On January 7 of the following year she was
met by an official who prevented her from going further
towards Lhasa, and after a journey full of privations from
cold, lack of food, and robbers, she reached Tatsienlu in
April.
In 1897 Tatsienlu was finally opened as a centre for
Tibetan work by Mr. Polhill, who had reached China after
his furlough in England, accompanied by Messrs. Moyes,
Soutter, Johanson, and Amundsen, as welcome reinforce-
ments. In this important border town there are no less
than forty inns for Tibetans, and in these work was system-
atically commenced. From this base journeys were taken
to the north, west, and south-west, and two of the early
workers laid down their lives in this arduous toil. These
were Mr. Soutter, whose grave now lies at the foot of the
great snow-giant Mount Neuda, on the weird plateau of
Sampa, 70 miles east of Batang ; and Mr. Radford, who
died of fever when seeking to reopen the Tibetan work
after the Boxer crisis.
Tatsienlu, after a preliminary visit by Mr. Edgar in 1902
was reopened in the following year, and the changed
conditions which followed the Boxer crisis were made evident
by the number of persons who desired to be enrolled as
enquirers. From among these, four, the first-fruits of Christ
in these Tibetan Marches, were baptized on May 14, 1904,
eight more being baptized during the following year. Mr.
Sorenson, who first joined the work at this station at the
beginning of 1900, subsequently took charge, and has
remained there to the present time.
Batang, which was, as already mentioned, first visited
by Dr. Cameron in 1877, was also visited by Mr. Polhill and
others in 1898, and again by Mr. Edgar in 1903, when this
TO EARTH'S REMOTEST BOUNDS 285
town and district were probably seen for the last time under
the Lamas and independent princes, for under the Chinese
policy of subjecting these regions, these princes were executed
as rebels in 1905 by the Chinese Imperial High Commissioner,
H.E. Chao Ri-feng. The preliminary and itinerary period
of work at Batang may be said to have ended with a visit
of Dr. Shelton and Mr. Ogden of the Foreign Missionary
Society in 1906, and with another visit a year later by
Messrs. Edgar and Muir, who returned to Litang via Siang-
cheng and Taopa, districts hitherto closed to Chinese.
Settled work in this station was commenced by the
arrival at Batang of Mr. and Mrs. Muir on July 18, 1908,
Mrs. Muir being the first foreign woman to visit the
place. Dr. and Mrs. Shelton, however, with two children
followed close upon their heels, for they reached this
distant outpost of missions only a week later, and were
followed by further reinforcements in October. Mr. Edgar
joined these friends during the next year, and Mrs. Edgar
in June 1910.
Work, however, was not long to be continued, for the
Revolution which broke out in the early winter of 1911 so
thoroughly disorganized all traffic and postal communications
that the missionaries and Chinese workers were forced to
retire towards the Yunnan border. On this occasion the
journey from Yenching to Weihsi was through the desperate
gorges of the Mekong ; and it may be of interest as showing
the difficulty of working these almost inaccessible regions
to say that a letter written at Batang on the evening of
October 12, reached Shanghai, via Lhasa, Darjeeling, and
Calcutta, sooner than the travellers reached the coast them-
selves. Batang has not again been opened, but work
continues at Tatsienlu, and Mr. and Mrs. Edgar have recently
joined Mr. and Mrs. Coates at Weiku, another frontier station
farther north. A noteworthy opening has also presented
itself at Dawo, which is six days' journey on the northern
road to Tibet from Tatsienlu.
The three years of missionary occupation of Batang
were by no means easy. The isolation, the sharing for a
time of a Tibetan house, and especially the antagonism of
286 THE FIFTH DECADE
H.E. Chao to British missionaries, all combined to try the
workers and to limit their usefulness. Many strenuous
journeys, however, were undertaken, though stringent
Government prohibitions soon closed some regions formerly
open. In 1910 Mr. Muir reached Chamdo, via the Ningching
mountains, and later, accompanied by his wife, visited Derge-
Gonchen, Kanze, and Dawo. Mr. Edgar not only frequently
visited Litang, the highest city in the world, where he found
many opportunities for work among the Lamas and nomads ;
he also itinerated between Yenching and Atuntsu, where
abundant opportunities were found for making the Gospel
known. The settlements in the lower reaches of the Chiangka
river were visited ; and in June 1911 he crossed the Mekong
and Salween rivers on single rope bridges, and preached
the Gospel and distributed literature in Menkong, and
about two months later was well received in the district
Lamasery at Derge-Gonchen, as well as in many centres
en route.
These few words absolutely fail to convey to the general
reader any idea of the toil and hardships involved in such
journeys. Even a map can give but little assistance. The
physical conditions of the country and the moral conditions
of the people need to be understood if the spiritual and
general strain upon the workers is to be appreciated. But
all the rigours of the climate and the exacting effects of
high altitudes are of small import in comparison with the
perplexing and painful political and social conditions
encountered. One or two short paragraphs from Mr. Edgar's
little book, The Marches of the Mantze} must suffice to
explain what these are :
" For instance, let us think of the countless officials with retinues
who live in these regions temporarily without Chinese wives ; and of
the merchants scattered here and there for whom it is a matter of policy
to take concubines temporarily. This, of course, implies an enormous
amount of polygamy, polyandry, and prostitution ; for, after about
three years, official, soldier, and merchant is ready to return to China,
where a ' barbarian ' wife and bastard progeny would hardly har-
monize. The woman in such cases, without hesitation, forms a new
1 By J. Huston Edgar: Morgan & Scott, Ltd., is. 6d. net.
TO EARTH'S REMOTEST BOUNDS 287
alliance, and the children as often as not become Lamas. China does
not see it, but this is the Achilles' heel which will hamper her plans to
the end.
" Men have gone," writes Mr. Edgar, " to regions more isolated,
more unhealthy, and more devoid of the ordinary comforts of life, but
seldom have men had to face such complicated ethnological problems
as here abound. Briefly, religion, morality, and politics will all hamper
the missionary just when success seems imminent. The Tibetan
priest, partly from policy, partly from belief, abhors apostasy ; and
converts to Christianity from lay or priestly ranks will find themselves
little better than social outcasts, with their lives often in danger.
Again, the time may come when the temporary or secondary wives
of officials, soldiers, and traders may wish to enter the Church ; or the
nomad woman with two or more consorts may make a similar applica-
tion. In all such cases how must the missionary act or advise ? "
With these all too brief extracts we must leave this
difficult yet fascinating region, to follow the story of courage-
ous toil in other fields.
From the snow-clad hills of Tibet, we pass to the arid
plains of Sinkiang, otherwise known as Chinese Turkestan.
This vast territory, extending over some iioo miles from
east to west, and for nearly 600 miles from north to south,
is an area approximately equal to that of the German Empire
with France and Spain combined. Yet in all this region
there was no Protestant missionary prior to 1905, with the
exception of the two mission stations of Yarkand and
Kashgar on the Russian frontier, worked by Swedish
missionaries. Sinkiang may be roughly described as an
immense desert, for the most part sandy and barren, sur-
rounded by lofty mountains. Its sand-buried cities and
dried-up rivers, while they tell of prosperous times in years
gone by, give evidence of those climatic changes which, in
part at least, have caused the desiccation of great areas of
Central Asia. Its population, probably extending to some
two or three millions, is composed of Turkis, Mongols,
Chinese, Manchus, Sarts, and Hindoos. Turki is the
dialect most commonly spoken, though Chinese, Mongol,
and Tibetan are also employed, while Mohammedanism is
the prevailing religion.
288 THE FIFTH DECADE
In the year 1888 Mr. George Parker, who had travelled
extensively in Kansu and elsewhere since 1876, entered this
distant province of Sinkiang, Dr. Lansdell being for a time
his companion in travel. Scriptures were circulated in six
different languages, and his journeys extended as far as
Kuldja. For many years, however, this vast country was
left quite untouched, until in 1905 Mr. George Hunter, who
had Lanchow, the capital of Kansu, for his base, began to
itinerate with the cities of Hami and Urumchi as his
objective.
In 1906 Mr. Hunter made Urumchi, the capital, other-
wise known as Tihwa, his headquarters, and from this time
he has — with brief intervals at Tihwa where the Mission
has had premises for several years — lived a life of almost
incessant travel, that he might carry the Gospel to the
widely scattered and needy people of this little-known
region. For a few months in the early period of his labour,
he had the fellowship and company of Mr. Doring of the
British and Foreign Bible Society, whose letters published in
the Report of the Bible Society's China Agency were full of
deepest interest. For the greater part of ten years, however,
Mr. Hunter has been alone, and with indomitable zeal and
pertinacity has laboured on in face of discouragement and
hardships of no common order.
Some idea of his isolation may be gathered from the fact
that his station at Urumchi, where mission premises were
definitely secured in 1908, is some two or three months'
journey from Kashgar on the one hand ; two months'
journey from Lanchow, the nearest station, on the other,
which latter city is again more than two months' journey
from Hankow. Thus to reach his nearest neighbours to
the east or west would necessitate from sixty to ninety days'
travelling.
Perhaps nothing can better convey to the reader the
nature of this worker's life and service than a few brief
extracts from his diary :
August 6, 1908. — Came on twenty-three miles to Kuertong where
I fed my mule and preached. Thence I proceeded another thirty
miles to Toktokeh, the first stage in the Chingho district. To-day I
TO EARTH'S REMOTEST BOUNDS 289
have travelled fifty-three miles, and have scarcely met any one, only
passing two or three houses. Sometimes the road leads through high
willow grasses which form almost a tunnel, and at other times through
a forest of desert poplars. In the willow grasses there are millions of
mosquitoes. Three miles from this place the sun set, and I was con-
fronted with a deep sheet of water when passing through the willow
grass tunnel. There was no alternative but to push on into the water,
not knowing its depth. It gradually became a rushing stream, and
the mule stumbled into a big hole and fell. I entered the water, and
with great difficulty rescued the mule and set right the cart ; but the
mosquitoes were cruelly vicious, and as I had to employ both my
hands to right the cart, they had full access to my face, which felt as
though it were scorched with fire. To-night, I say it reverently, I
thanked God for the moon. . . .
August 14, 1908. — ^The sun was setting, when about four hundred
yards in front of me a man on horseback galloped out of one of the
valleys and rode up a very steep mount. I at once saw by his action
that he was a mounted robber. It was getting dark, and we were
among gorges and the robber was soon joined by others. We managed,
however, to get out of the gorges before it was quite dark, and favoured
with a good road and a slight incline, we were thankful to leave the
robbers behind. We could scarcely see when we reached the inn,
which was filled with carts and travellers. In spite of my importunity
they refused to open the door, and the camp dog rushed at me and I
was severely bitten on the arm. Had it not been for the man who was
with me, I should have been badly torn by the ferocious brute. After
some time, I found an inn on the banks of the lake, and the breaking
of the waves on the shore reminded me of the shores of my own sea-
girt isle. But to-night my body is tired, my arm is sore with the bite
of the dog, my heart seems out of tune, and I fear my prayers do not
fully harmonize with the sound of the waves of this far-off lake so as
to praise the Lord of heaven and earth and sea.
August 7, 1910. — I disposed of two hundred tracts, and preached
in the streets of Karakash. August 9. Started for Saya, where I
sold a few books on the bazaar and preached. Thence we started to
Pialma, but the darkness overtook us thirteen miles from our destina-
tion, and we completely lost our way in the desert. I tried to use my
compass, but could not get a light because of the wind. We wandered
about for a long time, until there was nothing for it but to lie down
and try to rest, hungry and especially thirsty as we were, on the dry
sands of the Taklamakan. I tried to sleep, but could not, and my
thoughts went to Dr. Sven Hedin's men who perished in this desert
only a few days' march south-east of this very place,
U
290 THE FIFTH DECADE
These brief extracts must suffice to indicate the trying
nature of the country in which this lonely worker has
laboured for nearly ten years. Probably no missionary in
the world is more isolated than he, his station being nearly
a thousand miles, as the crow flies, from the next nearest
mission centre ; while his journeys so cut him off from the
outside world that he has at times been more than six months
without letters from home. Quite recently a colleague, Mr.
Mather, has gone to join him, but what are two workers
for so large and needy a sphere ?
Few visitors are able to see anything of the work and
workers in this far-off mission-field where, as with Gilmour
of Mongolia, little fruit appears to cheer them. The testi-
mony of one of the few explorers, however, who has
traversed this country deserves to be quoted, for Dr.
Morrison, the erstwhile famous Peking Correspondent of
The Times, wrote to that journal in 1908 as follows :
In Urumchi one Englishman has made his home. Mr. G. W.
Hunter of the China Inland Mission is one of the most widely travelled
men in the province. Of fine physique^ well equipped with a knowledge
of Chinese and Turki^ he works untiringly as an evangelist and col-
porteur. Already he has visited every centre in the new Dominion.
He takes rank with the most distinguished and tactful pioneer mission-
aries sent by England to China. His work deserves the special support
of all those interested in mission work.
XLIV
INSTITUTIONAL WORK
The reader who has followed the story thus far will have
recognized that much more has been said about expansion
than about concentration. This has not been because
station work has been neglected, but because the evangeliza-
tion of the unoccupied provinces had been regarded as the
primary duty. From the first, the aim of the Mission, as
defined in its Principles and Practice, has been :
By the help of God to bring the Chinese to a saving knowledge of
the love of God in Christ,, by means of itinerant and localized work
throughout the whole of the interior of China.
Localized work, therefore, has from the beginning been
recognized as an integral part of the Mission's duty ; but the
growth and development of local stations has been more the
outcome of initial evangelistic labours than otherwise.
While fully recognizing that generalizations are mis-
leading if pressed too far, it is yet true, speaking broadly,
that Institutional work with the C.I.M. has followed and not
preceded the work of the evangelist. Thus, Schools have
been opened more with a view to providing the Christian
education necessary for the children of converts, than as a
means of influencing the children of heathen parents. In
the same way Secondary Schools and Bible Training In-
stitutions have been established as the educational needs
and the growth of the Christian community have demanded,
and as the Church has called for better-trained evangelists
and pastors. On the other hand, however, hospitals, dis-
291
292 THE FIFTH DECADE
pensaries, and opium refuges have been employed distinctly
as evangelistic agencies, and have been found invaluable
auxiliaries for breaking down prejudice and for opening
closed doors.
School work dates back to the beginning of the Mission.
At Hangchow, shortly after the arrival of the Lammermuir
party, Miss Faulding — subsequently Mrs. Hudson Taylor —
specially devoted herself to schools for boys and girls. Early
in 1868 she reported that twelve boys had been *' bound "
to the school for a period of five years.' By the close of the
year 1870 she had 27 scholars, — 19 boys and 8 girls, — several
of whom had " committed to memory the whole of the New
Testament, with the exception of two gospels." What was
still more gratifjdng was that several had been received into
the Church, while others gave evidence of change of heart.
If we turn from Hangchow to other stations, we find the
same procedure adopted. In Wenchow, which was opened
by Mr. Stott in 1868, the Boarding School was reported as
" the most important part of the work " in 1870. There
were then twelve boys bound to the school for a term of
years, and from that time onward schools had an honoured
place in Wenchow. It would be interesting and instructive
to know how many scholars have passed through the schools
of this one station alone, for the last report speaks of 69
boarders and 138 day scholars. Year by year the workers
at this station, and many others which cannot even be
named, have had the joy of seeing many of these scholars
confess Christ and become leaders in the Church.
Space, unfortunately, will not allow the story of school
development to be followed in detail. Few of the central
stations are without a school, and not a few of the out-stations
have schools where the Chinese Christians have shouldered
a larger burden of responsibility than in the central stations
where the missionary resides. It must suffice to say that
1 In the early days the Mission made itself responsible for the board
and education of these scholars, who were " articled " for a definite period.
With the passage of time, a graduated scale of fees has been arranged,
whereby the parents become increasingly responsible for the financial
burdens of educational work.
INSTITUTIONAL WORK 293
the Mission has 320 schools, of which 10 1 are boarding
schools, and that the total number of scholars is 7408, of
which number 2268 are boarders. These pupils are in the
large majority of cases the children of Christians, and these
figures do not include those schools controlled entirely by
Chinese Christians, which are not conducted on mission
premises and for which the Mission has not direct responsi-
bility.
In several places Orphan Schools have been established.
The first of these was in Taiyuanfu, at the time of the great
famine in Shansi mentioned in an earlier chapter. More
recently, in consequence of the repeated famines in North
Kiangsu, where a number of missionaries engaged in the
difficult and terribly trying experience of relief work, orphan-
ages were built and opened at Antung by funds specially
supphed by the New York Orphanage Fund. In these
buildings 80 boys and 20 girls have been cared for and
educated, though the problem of qualifying them for the
ordinary battle of life in China has been by no means easy.
A large foundling home has been estabhshed at Saratsi
in North Shansi, where from 800 to 900 girls have been
rescued. Many of these are infants, not three years of age,
and these have been boarded out in the homes of the people.
A tract of land, of about 600 Enghsh acres in extent, has
been acquired, and from this land the needs of the orphanage
are in part supplied. This station also has a small Industrial
School, where the pupils are taught rug-making and weaving ;
camel's hair, which is fairly plentiful in that region, being
employed for the rugs. These orphanages and industrial
schools at Saratsi are under the care of the Swedish China
Alliance workers associated with the CT.M.
The needs of the Blind have not been forgotten. In
Changsha the German Associates from Liebenzell have
built a School for blind girls on the site of the buildings —
destroyed by riot in 1910 — where Mr. Taylor died in 1905.
In this school there are between 20 and 30 blind girls, several
of whom have been baptized. Unfortunately, in connection
with Mandarin, three separate systems of Braille have been
developed, each of which has been used successfully. The
294 THE FIFTH DECADE
need for a Standard or Union system therefore became
urgent, and to this problem Miss S. J. Garland, a C.I.M.
worker from Australia, has given much prayer and thought.
In November 1913, at the invitation of the British and
Foreign Bible vSocicty, a Conference of teachers and workers
among the blind was held in Shanghai, and it was agreed
to use Miss Garland's system known as the Tsinchow code—
Tsinchow being her station — as a basis of a Union system
for Mandarin. By the adoption of this Union system it
will now be possible for all Mandarin-speaking blind to use
the same books, to interchange teachers or scholars, and to
assist each other in many ways.
It should also be mentioned that in one or two stations
Homes have been opened for destitute aged persons. This
work, which has especially commended itself to the Chinese,
has existed for some years at Kweiki and Sintients'i.
With the growth of the Churches, the need of better-
trained evangehsts and pastors led to the founding of several
Bible Training Institutes. These Institutes serve the
demands of the provinces in which they are located. In
Chekiang, at a provincial conference held at Ningpo in 1897,
the need of such schools was definitely raised, though it was
not until ten years later that the scheme then proposed
materiahzed. The name of the late Mr. Doherty will always
be associated with this scheme, though his lamented death,
when the Institute was in process of building, deprived the
work of a much-beloved Principal. The responsibility of
carrying on the work ultimately fell upon Mr. W. H. Warren,
under whose leadership the Bible School was opened on
October 21, 1911. The first sixteen students, having
completed the two years' course of study, and having passed
the required examinations, obtained their diplomas of
graduation on July 24, 1913.
In Western Szechwan the need of a similar Institute had
also been felt, and after some occasional discussions definite
proposals were submitted to Mr. Hostc in 1903. With these
proposals approved, and special funds being available, a
large Chinese house of some twenty rooms was secured in
INSTITUTIONAL WORK 295
the Spring of 1904. In the following September this Bible
Training School was opened under the direction of Mr. A.
Grainger, and since that time some sixty students have
passed through the Institute, approximately half of these
having taken the full course, which includes the study of
the whole Bible, Geography, History, Church History,
Singing, and other subjects. Practical evangelistic work
is also engaged in daily.
In Eastern Szechwan, in the Church of England district,
a similar School, known as the Diocesan Theological College,
was opened at Paoning, under the guidance of the Rev. A.
Lawrence of the C.M.S. until his death in 1905. Subse-
quently this College was continued by the Rev. C. H.
Parsons of the C.I.M. This Institute serves both the
C.M.S. , and the C.I.M. Church of England work in
Szechwan.
In 1908 another of these Bible Training Schools was
opened in Nanchangfu, the capital of Kiangsi, this School
being known as " The Burrows Memorial Bible Training
Institute," it having been erected by members of the family
in memory of the late Lieutenant Burrows, a member of
the Mission who died in that city. In all some fifty students
have received their training here, under the leadership of
Mr. W. S. Home, these students representing more than
twenty stations in the Province, as well as several stations
in Kiangsu.
In Shansi, in the year 1903, the Rev. Percy Knight
commenced to hold Bible Classes in the various stations,
and Winter Bible Schools at Pingyangfu. But his valuable
ministry was supplemented by the establishment of a central
Bible Training Institute at Hungtung in the autumn of
1909, with Mr. F. C. Dreyer in charge. In the Spring of
the following year, a full two years' course of study was
commenced with thirteen carefully selected students, and
after the Revolution another Session opened with about
thirty students, some of whom had come from the neighbour-
ing provinces of Honan and Chihli. Through the gifts of
friends connected with the Los Angeles Bible House, more
suitable premises for the housing of this work are, as we
296 THE FIFTH DECADE
write, in course of erection, though part of this new home
was occupied in the autumn of 1914.
In addition to these regularly established Bible Schools,
much has been done in the way of Bible instruction by
Summer and Winter Schools arranged locally. In Shansi,
as already mentioned, Bible Schools have been conducted
at various stations for periods varying from ten days to a
month and more, and in Chekiang, Mr. Alexander Miller
has engaged in similar service. More and more attention
will be given to work of this kind as the Churches multiply
and grow.
In a previous chapter — Chapter XXII. — the beginnings
of Medical Mission work have been briefly outlined. All
that can be attempted here is to take up the story at the
point there dropped, and briefly indicate some of the recent
developments. A year before Dr. Schofield's death, Drs.
William Wilson and E. H. Edwards had joined the work,
and Dr. Pruen was also in the field. Dr. Douthwaite,
though he had done some excellent medical work in the
seventies and early eighties, did not fully qualify at home
until 1885. By that time the Mission had four fully-quahfied
men at work in the field.
Dr. Edwards took up the work so well begun at Taiyuanfu
by Dr. Schofield, which work subsequently passed into the
hands of the Baptist Missionary Society. Dr. William
Wilson proceeded north-west, hoping to open a hospital at
Sianfu, the capital of Shensi, but owing to the hostility of
the people there, he transferred his labours to Hanchungfu,
where he carried on his useful ministry from 1884 to 1895.
One item of more than ordinary interest connected with
Dr. William Wilson's work was his remarkable ability in
employing native material. The transport of drugs to this
inland station was in those days even more difficult than
now. By the proper manipulation and aseptic treatment of
a number of native materials, splints, bandages, absorbent
wool, and aseptic dressings for surgical purposes were
prepared. Crude sulphur, obtainable in China, was con-
verted, by the simple process of boihng with hme, into a
INSTITUTIONAL WORK 297
liquid preparation which was found to give better results
than the finest Flowers of Sulphur universally used at home.
Oxide of Zinc, by an equally simple and inexpensive process,
was obtained from the zinc lining of packing cases ; though
perhaps the most important saving was effected by the
distillation of the weak native spirit to any degree of con-
centration required for the manufacture of pharmaceutical
tinctures, Hniments, Hquors, and hquid extracts, etc. The
letters of Dr. Wilson, who is a perfect genius at this kind of
work, which were pubHshed in the China Medical Journal,
were the admiration and despair of many other medical
workers in China.
While Drs. Edwards and William Wilson were caring for
the hospitals at Taiyuanfu and Hanchungfu respectively,
Dr. Douthwaite commenced his work at Chefoo, where he
obtained a well-deserved notoriety, as well as Government
recognition for his Red-Cross work during the Japanese war
with China. A second hospital was opened in Shansi at
Pingyangfu by Dr. Millar Wilson at his own expense, and
continued by him until his martyrdom at Taiyuanfu in 1900.
In his memory the Wilson Memorial Hospital has been
erected and largely supported by his relatives, and is now
under the care of Drs. J. C. Carr and S. Hoyte.
In Kaifengfu, the capital of Honan and the last provincial
capital to be opened to the Gospel, Medical work was com-
menced by Drs. Whitfield Guinness and Sydney H. Carr in
the summer of 1902. The first patient was a Jewess, thus
exemplifying the command : " To the Jew first," — Kaifengfu
being the only city where this would be possible in China,
for there alone can be found the remnants of an ancient
Jewish colony. This work, which had only 1476 out-patients
in 1904, but had more than 15,000 out-patients in 1913, has
been recently overshadowed by the, to us, untimely death
of Dr. Sydney Carr, an efficient and much-beloved missionary.
In Paoning, Szechwan, the Henrietta Bird Memorial
Hospital work was commenced by Dr. Shackleton in 1903.
In 1907 Dr. Elhot reopened this work, which had been
temporarily suspended, and in 1912, when Dr. W. T. Clark
joined the work, a new building was erected. In 1910,
298 THE FIFTH DECADE
Miss Dr. D. M. Watney ^ reached this station, being followed
by her sister, Miss Dr. L. E. Watney, two years later. These
lady doctors will D.V. reopen the hospital at Suitingfu,
where Dr. William Wilson formerly laboured.
In Taichowfu, Chekiang, the Mission has two hospitals —
one for men and one for women — imder the care of Dr. and
Mrs. J. A. Anderson, both quahfied practitioners, these
hospitals having been erected in 1904 and 1909 respectively.
In Jaochowfu, Kiangsi, which station was opened by
Dr. Fred. Judd in 1898, dispensary work was carried on for
some years, until a small and temporary hospital was built.
In 1909 a fine site for a hospital, a secondary school, and
residential quarters was secured, the new hospital premises
being entered in September 191 1. For many years Dr. and
Mrs. Judd had been single-handed, but were joined by
Dr. and Mrs. Dansey Smith in 1912.
With special funds contributed for the purpose, a hospital
for work among the aboriginal tribes was erected in Anshunfu
in Kweichow, the buildings being erected before the doctor
was found. Dr. Fish, a worker in North America, however,
offered for this post, and in 1913 commenced his kindly
ministrations amongst these peoples.
Medical work has been carried on for longer or shorter
periods at several other centres. Thus for many years Drs.
Keller and Barrie had a most flourishing hospital at Changsha,
Hunan, which station was ultimately handed over to the
Liebenzell Associates. Chenchowfu in Honan was opened
in the spring of 1895 as the result of medical work under-
taken by Dr. Howard Taylor in that city some three and
a half years previously, at the invitation of H.E. Yuan
Shih-kai, now President of China, at which time Yuan
Shih-kai's mother was dying of cancer. It may be of
interest to mention that for this service Dr. Taylor received
a honorific tablet from H.E. Li Hung-chang. Medical
work was also temporarily conducted at Talifu by Dr. Clark,
and for a good many years at Chinkiang by Dr. Cox. And
recently Dr. George King, whose heart has for many years
1 In 19 1 4 Miss D. M. Watney was married to Mr. H. G. Thompson, son
of Captain Thompson of DubUn, also a member of the Mission.
INSTITUTIONAL WORK 299
been set upon work among the Moslems of China, has
proceeded to Kansu, where it is hoped a Memorial Hospital
will be built in memory of the late Mr. William Borden, a
wealthy young Yale graduate, who died at Cairo, where he
was studying Arabic with a view to labouring as a member
of the Mission among the followers of Mohammed in China.
A new hospital is now being erected at Luanfu in Shansi by
Dr. Kelly with money specially contributed from North
America.
To summarize. The Mission has in ail nine Hospitals,
68 Dispensaries, with 27 fully quahfied men and women,
not to speak of those Chinese assistants who have qualified
in China. The Opium Refuge work is at the present time
carried on in some 40 Opium Refuges, though before China's
successful campaign against the curse of opium, the number
of Refuges was much higher.
In the year 1902 Dr. Wilham Wilson, finding his medical
work somewhat slack on his return to his station of Suitingfu
after the Boxer crisis, felt led to attempt, as an experiment,
the giving of some scientific lectures, with the hope of getting
into close touch with the student class, who at that time
evinced a special desire for Western learning. There was
an immediate and most encouraging response, and many
hundreds of intellectual and well-educated men attended
Dr. Wilson's lectures, when the truths of the Gospel were
plainly put before them both by personal conversations and
by the distribution of literature. Subsequently a hall was
built by funds specially contributed for this work, and in
1908 Dr. Wilson attempted some similar work at Chengtu,
the capital of Szechwan. His hall was visited by the Viceroy
in person, and as a result of personal intercourse with the
literary Chancellor, the students of the various Government
schools and colleges had fixed days and hours appointed for
attending these lectures. This somewhat unique work was
instrumental in bringing a large number of Government
students under the sound of the Gospel, men who might
otherwise never have been reached. It should also be added
that two workers were temporarily appointed for work
300 THE FIFTH DECADE
among the Chinese students in Japan, a work which has
been very fruitful.
There is one other department of special service which
must not be omitted from this all too rapid survey. Apart
from Mr. Hudson Taylor's labours upon the Ningpo colloquial
New Testament, little was done in the way of literary work
until 1887. During the early years widespread itinerations
engaged all the time and strength of the pioneers, but in
1887, in consequence of the large reinforcements then joining
the Mission, the Rev. F. W. Bailer began to devote his
linguistic gifts to the preparation of books for the use of
young missionaries. A beginning was made with an Analysis
of the first chapter of St. John's Gospel, which was followed
by a Vocabulary of the entire Gospel. A more important
work was his Mandarin Primer, with supplementary
Vocabulary. The two departments of construction and
terminology fell naturally into line, and determined the
form of the book in its subsequent editions. This valuable
book has been rewritten at least three times, and eight
editions representing a total of eight thousand copies have
already been exhausted, a ninth edition being now in the
press. That one such Primer should have so large a sale is
evidence of the wide study of the Chinese language.
The warm reception accorded to the Primer, not only in
missionary circles but in the Consular and Customs Services,
led to the preparation of an Analytical Vocabulary of the
whole of the New Testament, which work has passed through
two editions. Three editions of the Sacred Edict, a book
much used by students of the language, have been issued ;
and in 1900 an Analytical Chinese-English Dictionary was
published, containing the most commonly used six thousand
characters — the number usually estimated as in use in the
Chinese newspapers — together with all the characters and
important phrases found in the C.I.M. Course of Language
Study. Of this book two thousand copies were pubHshed,
and as one proof of its value, it may be stated that a Chinese
firm has thought it worth while to publish a pirated edition.
Of the many other works which have come from Mr.
Bailer's ready pen we can only mention his Lessons in
INSTITUTIONAL WORK 301
Elementary Wenli ; a Chinese translation of A Retrospect,
now in its third edition ; and translations of the Life of
Charles Spurgeon ; the Life of George Miiller ; and The Five
Offerings of Leviticus. The Life of Pastor Hsi, published in
Chinese by Mr. Bailer, is not so much a translation of Mrs.
Howard Taylor's well-kno^^^l book, but rather a new work
cast into a purely Chinese mould. In addition, Mr. Bailer
has for many years been a prominent member of the Union
Mandarin Bible Revision Committee, while the Tracts and
Portions translated by him have had a circulation of some-
thing like thirty milhon copies.
Another member of the Mission who has during recent
years devoted himself to literary work is Mr. J. Vale, who
in 191 1 was lent by the Mission to the Chinese Tract Society
of Shanghai as their Editorial and General Secretary. In
this capacity he has edited two Chinese papers — The
Illustrated News and The Child's Paper, as well as super-
intended the preparation and publication of a large output
of Christian literature, the issues by that Society for one yeai
being over three-quarters of a million copies.
Space fails us to record the work of Mr. Rudland on the
Taichow Colloquial Bible ; or the labours of those who are
translating the Scriptures into the varied languages of the
non-Chinese races ; or of Mr. F. H. Rhodes, who is engaged
in the preparation and circulation of literature among the
Mohammedans of China. Nor can we speak in detail of the
books which have come from the pens of Mrs. Howard Taylor
and others, and published by the Mission in the Home
countries.
Though the energies of the Mission have in the main
been directed towards widespread evangelism, this chapter
of summaries will perhaps be sufficient to indicate that
localized and special work has not been neglected. In-
stitutional work has many comforts and encouragements
denied to the pioneer, and only a deep sense of the need of
the unreached masses, and of the duty of preaching Christ
where He has not been named, will suffice to prevent the
claims of station work obscuring the needs of the still un-
evangelized regions.
XLV
FACTS ABOUT FINANCE
In several of the earlier chapters, illustrations have been
given of the way in which God has graciously provided for
the financial needs of the work. We now purpose speaking
somewhat more fully on this topic, though obviously little
can be said of fifty years financial experience in one short
chapter.
The principle of faith in regard to funds was many years
ago stated by Mr. Hudson Taylor in the following words :
Considering the great needs of China^ and that the Master laid the
command to go into all the world upon every believer ... we con-
cluded to invite the co-operation of fellow-believers^, irrespective of
denomination, who fully believed in the inspiration of God's Word,
and were willing to prove their faith by going into Inland China with
only the guarantees they carried within the covers of their pocket
Bibles. God had said, " Seek first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things (food and raiment) shall be added
to you." If any one did not believe that God spoke the truth, it
would be better for him not to go to China to propagate the faith. If
he did believe it, surely the promise sufficed. Again, " No good thing
will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." If any one did not
mean to walk uprightly, he had better stay at home ; if he did mean
to walk uprightly, he had all he needed in the shape of a guarantee
fund.
Fifty years have passed since the Mission was founded
with no other guarantee than that indicated in the words
quoted. Many and varied have been the experiences of the
Mission through all these years, yet, though the faith of
God's servants has not infrequently been severely tried,
302
FACTS ABOUT FINANCE 303
God's faithfulness has never failed. During these years a
sum of approximately one and three-quarter milHons
sterhng ^ has been received by the Mission, apart from the
funds given for the support of the Associate workers, who
mainly come from the continent of Europe. Were the total
of these additional contributions ascertainable — these funds
being transmitted direct to the field and often not passing
through the Treasurer's hands in Great Britain — it would
be found that the total sum received from the commence-
ment did not fall far short of two million pounds sterhng.
All this money has been sent in in answer to prayer, for the
work is supported entirely by the freewill offerings of God's
people, no personal sohcitations or collections being
authorized.
Fifty years, with all their many and varied needs, have
afforded abimdant opportunity for proving the certainty of
God's promises. There have been years of drought, when
faith has been tested ; and years of plenty, when faith has
rejoiced ; yet throughout all this period the supply has been
wonderfully regulated to meet an ever-varying and growing
need. In the years when " the Seventy " sailed, or " the
Hundred " new workers suddenly swelled the ranks of the
Mission, the increased needs were met by special suppHes
as was mentioned in the chapters which told of those
events.
" As to their support/' wrote Mr. Hudson Taylor, when referring
to the proposed prayer for large reinforcements, " the God who had
found no difficulty in sustaining in the wilderness the millions of Israel,
was not likely to feel burdened with the care of a few extra workers
for Inland China. His arm has not waxed short. There was no fear
that we should have to become vegetarians ! The cattle on a thousand
hills are His, and were the currency of the whole world to fail or be
insufficient, He has abundance of unmined silver and gold. We can
afford to be poor with so rich a Father. So we agreed to pray." And
the prayer of faith was justified.
^ A careful analysis of the London Accounts made by Mr. J. N. Hay-
ward, the Treasurer of the JMission in China, when last at home on furlough,
showed that more than 91 per cent of the money received was used directly
for the work in China, and less than 9 per cent was expended on Home
administration .
304 THE FIFTH DECADE
And in the same way as God has met the suddenly in-
creased need for passage moneys, and for the general support
of these large bands of reinforcements, so has God supplied
the needs for the larger and more expensive buildings, which
from time to time it has been necessary to erect. The
invaluable Compound possessed by the Mission in Shanghai,
the admirable Schools at Chefoo, the convenient Offices
and Home situated in London, as well as those in Toronto,
Philadelphia, and Melbourne, together with many other
smaller buildings in different parts of China, have been
purchased or erected by funds specially contributed for
that purpose, so that the General Funds of the Mission
have been encroached upon as little as possible for mission
premises. Hundreds of buildings held by the Mission in
tiiist for God's work — Chapels, Halls, Schools, Hospitals,
and Offices, etc., are all standing monuments to God's
faithfulness ; the very stones of which would cry out did
we hold our peace.
From among the many thousands of instances in which
God's hand has interposed on behalf of His servants it is
only possible to select a few representative cases, which will
illustrate the experiences of the Mission both on the field
and in the several Home departments in Great Britain,
North America, and Australasia.
One of the few missionaries who joined the Mission and
set forth for China before the sailing of the Lammermuir
party was Mr. George Stott, who, after about eighteen
months' study of the language at Ningpo, proceeded to
Wenchow, the most southerly prefectural city of Chekiang,
to open a new station, where he was permitted to labour
for more than twenty years. For nearly two years he dwelt
alone in that city of over three hundred thousand souls,
without seeing another European face, and without hearing
a word of his mother-tongue. Concerning those lonely and
trying days, when much severe opposition was experienced,
he ^wrote' :
Once I fell very short of funds— in fact, so short that I had not a
dollar in the house. I was without a dollar, I think, for twenty or
twenty-one days — I forget which — and I had nearly twenty people
FACTS ABOUT FINANCE 305
in the house to feed. Now, how were they to be fed ? I think this
will be an illustration of God's faithfulness to a poor weak man. You
know, I daresay, that it is also one of our principles never to incur debt.
No matter what may come, we never will incur debt. My money was
gone and my food also was nearly exhausted. Well, there was a man
from whom I had bought rice several times ; and he came to me one
day and said, " Mr. Stott, how is it you have not been to order rice ?
Your rice must be out." I replied, " Well, the rice is nearly gone, but
I cannot order any." " Why ? " said he. '' Well, if you must know
the reason, it is simply because I have not got the money to pay for
it." Soon after that he sent me two loads of rice and 3000 cash, equal
in value to perhaps los. or 12s. Well, this rice also was done, and the
money was spent ; but still no help came. But when that was gone,
he again supplied my need, and my tongue would fail to tell you the
joy I had with God during those days. I shall remember, I think,
as long as life or reason remains, how I sat sometimes for two hours
together upon the floor of my bedroom and lifted up my heart to my
God, and sometimes I felt almost stretching out my hands to embrace
my dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I had some of the nearest
approaches to God during those twenty or twenty-one days that I
ever experienced in my life, and God kept me in perfect peace. I think
I never doubted that help would come.
During the time that I was waiting upon God for that help, I re-
ceived a letter from our friend, Mr. Berger, informing me that a young
friend had already started from England, and perhaps by the time that
I received the letter would be more than half-way to China, who was
to become my wife. I daresay many would think that it was not a
very bright prospect to get married on. Well, I found God faithful,
for before she arrived I was delivered out of that trouble.
Another worker, whose name has already appeared in
these pages, who was permitted to give twenty-five years of
service to China, the greater part as a medical missionary,
was Dr. A. W. Douthwaite. When on furlough in England
during the year 1885 he related the following story :
When I was in the city of Wenchow, with two other families of our
missionaries belonging to the C.I.M., we were a long time without a
supply of funds. We had run very short of money, and as it drew
towards Christmas-time we began to expect some from England,
which was our usual source of supply. All the money was used up,
but we said, '' The steamer will be in at Christmas, and then we shall
surely get some more." Christmas evening came, and with it the
steamer, but not a cent of money for us. Our hopes seemed dashed
to the ground. We had in our house just a little flour and some
X
3o6 THE FIFTH DECADE
potatoes and a few other things. We knew that we could get no more
money from our usual source for probably fifteen days, and our col-
leagues in the city were in just about the same fix. Just at this time
I was subject to a little temptation, for I was offered a situation under
the Chinese Government at £800 a year. This would have involved
giving up missionary work, but God enabled me to resist this tempta-
tion. I am sure it was a temptation from the devil. It came just
at the time when we were depressed and had been short of money for
a long time ; and probably had not my wife remained so staunch and
firm and true, and so determined not to give up, I might have yielded.
She would not think of such a thing. Well, as I said, the steamer came,
and with it no money — nothing to encourage us at all. We went, as
usual, and told the Lord all about it, for we went out to China knowing
that we had only God to depend upon ; and we were quite satisfied
that that was enough for us, and we told our wants to Him.
Now you will see how that day the Lord, having shut up one source
to try our faith, opened others. Before dinner-time, a Chinaman came
along with a large piece of beef, and said, " I want you to accept this
as a present. I have received a great deal of medicine from you. You
have done me good, and you would not take any money ; will you
please take this ? " I took it, and thanked God for it. Soon after-
wards, in came another Chinaman, a gentleman, with a coolie walking
behind him with a large bamboo over his shoulder, and a basket
hanging from each end. The man put the things down in the reception
room, and I was asked to come down. I went down and opened the
baskets and found in them four hams, and some httle things besides.
He said, " I want you to accept this as a present." The usual thing
with a Chinaman is to expect you to take a little of what he brings
and give him back the rest ; but I saw that this man intended me to
take all, and I did so, and thanked God for it. In came another
Chinaman, with a fat pheasant and some chickens and a basket of
eggs, and he asked me to accept these ; I did accept them, and thanked
God for them. But that was not all. Before evening, a European
connected with the consular service came along, bringing with him a
coolie carrying a huge turkey. He said, " See, I have been feeding this
turkey for you for six months, will you accept it ? " You see that the
Lord knew six months before that we were going to be short on that
day, and He provided for us. Thus we had an abundance of food for
the whole of us, although our usual supply was cut off. Several other
things came in. A week or two before then I had my umbrella stolen,
and during this time in comes a Chinaman with a foreign umbrella,
a silk one. He said, " I have been to Shanghai, and I wanted to get a
present for you, and I did not know what else to get, so I have brought
this umbrella."
Towards evening I received a letter from the custom-house officers,
FACTS ABOUT FINANCE 307
saying, that as I had gratuitously attended to them in cases of sickness,
they had subscribed to purchase a case of instruments for me, but not
knowing what I wanted, would I kindly accept the money ? Of course
I kindly did ! They sent with the letter a roll of seventy dollars.
Our hearts were full of joy. We gave God thanks for all that He had
done for us ; and it is always a joy to me to look back upon that
occasion and upon other similar occasions, and remember what God
has done. " The young lions do lack and suffer hunger ; but they
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." I have proved
that, and all who trust in Him will also prove it.
Not to prolong this chapter by instances of a similar and
personal nature, we pass on to the more general experiences
of the Mission at their headquarters. In March 1901 a
letter was received in Toronto from Shanghai, stating that
the funds from the home countries had been unusually small.
At this time Mr. Frost was in Chefoo, and he also mentioned
in his correspondence the same need. This was felt to be a
special call for prayer by the friends in Toronto, and the
letters having arrived on Monday evening it was agreed that
the friends should meet for special prayer at 5 p.m. on
Tuesday.
The noon mail on Tuesday brought a letter with a cheque
for $1000, of which $300 were designated to the General
Funds. This was naturally accepted as a gracious token
of what God would do, and when the friends met at 5 p.m.
the meeting was one both of praise and intercession. On
Tuesday it was determined to meet again the following day
at 5 P.M. and ask definitely for at least $3000 for the mission-
ary account in China. Again, the Wednesday noon mail
brought a draft, this time on New York, for $500, and a
friend handed in personally $120 in bank-notes. It need
hardly be said that the prayer meeting that afternoon was
again one of praise as well as of intercession, recognizing
that the Lord had fulfilled His promise, " Before they call, I
will answer."
Encouraged by these tokens, it was agreed that they
should meet the next day to pray for the remainder of the
$3000, and to praise God for the tokens of His favour already
received. Again, the Thursday noon mail brought another
evidence of God's faithfulness in a cheque for $3200. " You
308 THE FIFTH DECADE
may be sure," wrote Mr. Helmer, " that our hearts were
overflowing with praise for these full answers to our prayers."
What could they do but agree to meet again on Friday at
5 P.M. to praise God for His gracious dealings. Friday
morning and noon mails brought no more funds, but in the
afternoon, before the meeting, another letter was received
enclosing a cheque for $571.
Not many months later than the incident related above
a party of seven men in Australia was due to leave Sydney
for China, on Tuesday, December 17, 1901. But when the
day of departure arrived, sufficient money for all the passages
had not been received. The boat, however, happened to be
postponed for two days, and on Wednesday a special meeting
of the Council in Melbourne was called for prayer, to once
more lay the whole matter before God. Afterwards a sum
of money was received sufficient to complete the payment
of five passages. Thursday dawned, and a telegram had to
be sent to Sydney instructing two of the young men who
were tarrjdng there to wait for the next steamer. The
remaining part of the story is best told in the words of
Dr. Kitchen, the Treasurer :
To say that we were puzzled is putting it lightly ; for the first time
it seemed as if the promises of God had failed us ! We unitedly bowed
before Him asking Him to show us where the mistake had been, and
how we had failed to recognize His will; for all of us had felt most
clearly that it was His will for all this party to go, so that when we
came face to face with the fact that two had been left behind, it seemed
to us incomprehensible, for we still felt that we were in the line of His
holy will. We humbled ourselves before God, but we could get no
light at all, and the riddle seemed insoluble.
Friday morning, the first post brought us a cheque for £25, and the
first thought was, " Why not yesterday. Lord ? It's too late now,"
and it was put on one side ; after breakfast the thought came, would it
be possible for them to catch the steamer at Brisbane by going over-
land from Sydney ? but on looking up the time-table we found that
it could not be done in the time, unless the agents would delay her for
us. We communicated with the shipping company, and in the after-
noon came the delightful news that the Chajtgsha had not left Sydney
till that morning at eight o'clock. If, then, we could only let the
young men know, they might still catch her ! Earlier in the day a
FACTS ABOUT FINANCE 309
preparatory telegram had been sent to our Sydney Secretary^ and we
now sent word to Mr. Martin for the young men to go on. We felt
sure that the Lord who had thus opened up a new way to Cliina would
not fail us now, but we were kept waiting till the next evening, when a
wire came, " Webster and Bird caught train." The Lord Jesus meant,
"If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it." Of course He
did, and we felt most thankful that we had not once doubted His
Word or His wisdom.
Of the Mission's financial experiences in Great Britain
the writer is naturally more familiar than with those of
North America and Australasia. While a study of the
Annual Reports enables the general reader to see how
remarkably God has supplied the needs of His work, only
those who are in a position to know what those needs are,
and at the same time to watch day by day the incoming of
supplies, can begin to appreciate the constancy of God's
help, and His unfailing faithfulness in delivering His servants
from positions of great difficulty. In a peculiar way the
C.I.M. is able to observe God's interposition on its behalf,
because practically all its funds come in direct to the office
by the daily post. Thus month by month, as the days
creep on, the needs and the supplies are ever before the eyes
of the home staff. Not infrequently the month has nearly
closed, and the day when funds should be telegraphed to
China has drawn near, and yet the amount received has
fallen far short of what was apparently needed. Yet, time
and time again, ere the day or hour for transmission has
really come, God's answer has come also. Thus those who
have daily watched and daily prayed are privileged in an
especial way to see God's hand stretched out on their behalf.
One or two illustrations of this may now be given, and
if in the cases quoted reference is made to large gifts, which
have brought financial relief, it is not that the smaller
donations are overlooked or less appreciated, for it is possible
that the ** widow's mite " may be the more sacred of the
two. The true value of any gift is only known to God, and
no gifts have been more precious, or have made us feel so
much the sacred character oi the offerings, as some of the
smaller sums given out of poverty and need. The following
310 THE FIFTH DECADE
instances are selected solely because they strikingly illustrate
God's intervention at times of special trial.
During the month of February 1905 funds came in very
slowly, and though daily prayer was made to God at the
office in London, the month closed without any marked
relief. On March 2, after the February accounts had been
closed, a cheque for £900 was made out and forwarded to the
bank for transmission. It was known that this sum was
wholly inadequate to the needs of the moment, but it was
all God had provided, so with some measure of regret the
cheque was posted. The first delivery of letters the following
morning brought a welcome gift of £2000. The bank was
immediately telephoned to and the cheque for £900 stopped,
and ere the day closed a normal sum was cabled to Shanghai.
Again, during the early months of 1908 the income had
fallen in one quarter about ;f6ooo below the corresponding
quarter of the previous year. In the Annual Report,
presented at the Annual Meetings in May, a brief statement
concerning the Mission's income closed with these words :
Yet with all the promises of God before us, and all the records of
the past behind us in support and confirmation of those promises,
have we not abundant cause to go forward, trusting in Him who is
able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think ?
Two or three weeks later a letter was received from a
kind donor, who had evidently been studying the Report,
for with his generous gift of £5000 he wrote :
I send you cheque for £5000, and this will be another proof that you
have, as your Report says, abundant cause to go forward, trusting
Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think.
How timely this gift was not even the generous donor
knew. It is the custom in the Treasurer's Department in
Shanghai to forward remittances to the workers in the
interior once a quarter. If the moneys cabled to China
monthly should be short in the first and second months of
each quarter, that shortness is not immediately felt ; but
FACTS ABOUT FINANCE 311
if when the third month's remittance arrives funds are still
low, all moneys disbursed from Shanghai have to be cut
down in proportion to the sum received. This gift of £5000
came on the very day when the money of the third month of
the quarter was to be cabled to China. How much such a
proof of God's faithfulness and timely care meant to those
who had watched the days of the preceding three months
slowly pass, only those who have had a similar experience
can appreciate.
In November 19 10 another deliverance came, just at
the close of the third month again. During the two months
of September and October the funds had been so much
below normal that somewhat less than half of a quarter's
remittance had been forwarded to China instead of two-
thirds. The month of November — the last of this quarter
for forwarding moneys to China — steadily advanced and
stiU no special answer came. Some gifts came daily, and
for these thanks were given to God, especially as some of
the letters indicated that God's people were being moved.
One such letter ran as f oUows :
I am pleased to enclose cheque value £100 as a donation to the China
Inland Mission. I am a widow and live very quietly,, so am able to
send what is, to me, so large a sum ; but I felt a call to do this independ-
ently of the usual sum sent annually.
Encouraged by this and similar tokens, prayer was
constantly made that God would provide. November 30
arrived, and yet when the office staff met for prayer, after
the morning mails had been opened, there was no sign of
deliverance. The daily portion from My Counsellor is
always read before prayer, and at such times of need the
mind and heart are the more ready for some word of promise.
Among the verses read that morning were the following :
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's
hands. . . . They that make them are like unto them ; so is every
one that trusteth in them. ... 0 Israel, trust thou in the Lord : He
is their Helper and their Shield.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If
312 THE FIFTH DECADE
any man love the worlds the love of the Father is not in him. . . . The
love of money is the root of all evil : covetousness^ which is idolatry.
Lovest thou Me, more than these ? . . . My heart is fixed; 0 God,
my heart is fixed ; I will sing and give praise.
There is no need to indicate the line prayer took after
such heart-searching words, yet withal such words of hope
and praise. The season of prayer and praise was ended,
and each worker took up his or her appointed task in faith
and joy in Him " who giveth songs in the night." Not
many hours had elapsed, however, ere He also gave " the
songs of deliverance," for a special gift of £1000 — not given,
we believe, without real sacrifice by one who did not know
the urgent need — came as another signal proof that our
Heavenly Father knows what things His children have need
of. The smn received was not all that we thought was
needed, but God knew what was best, and this token of His
remembrance at the last moment brought spiritual as well
as financial relief.
Only one other illustration can be given here. The year
1912 was one of the most tr3dng in the Mission's financial
history. In Great Britain the income had been the lowest
for sixteen years, though the work had grown considerably.
After the close of the year a brief annual financial statement
was published, as usual, in China s Millions, the facts being
frankly stated with the following comment :
As a Mission, we desire to learn any lessons God has to teach us by
the special experiences through wliich He is now calling us to pass.
May He grant that the heart-searchings and renewed test of faith may
result in God's glory and more efficient service on our part.
The following lines, written by Mr. George Miiller in 188 1, when
subjected to a somewhat similar trial, very aptly fit the experiences of
the C.I.M. to-day, and we quote them here as representing the Mission's
outlook from the mere human standpoint, and also from the stand-
point of faith in an Almighty God.
'•' The natural appearance now is that the work cannot be carried on.
But I believe that the Lord will help, and that we shall not be con-
founded ; also that the work shall not need to be given up. I am fully
expecting help, and have written this to the glory of God, that it may
be recorded hereafter for the encouragement of His children. The
FACTS ABOUT FINANCE 313
result will be seen. I expect that we shall not be confounded, though
for some years we have not been so poor."
Within a few days of these words being penned, a muni-
ficent gift of £10,000 was received by the Mission, which
again proved :
God never yet forsook at need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.
Of all God's dealings with the Mission, in these and other
matters, we can only say :
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works
which Thou hast done,
And Thy thoughts which are to us-ward :
They cannot be set in order unto Thee ;
If I would declare and speak of them.
They are more than can be numbered.
XLVI
THE MISSION FROM WITHIN
In tracing the history of the Mission from its early days,
many incidental references have been made to the principles
and practice which have governed the conduct of the work.
We now propose to supplement what has been already said
by some further details of the Mission's organization from
within.
By specializing on one country, it has been possible to
organize the work in a way that would not be wholly
practicable with those Societies which labour in many fields.
The Society which has workers in Africa, India, and China,
or other countries, must of necessity have one centre from
which the whole work is directed, and that centre is generally,
if not invariably, at home. With the C.I.M., since all the
work centres in China, it is not only possible, but even
necessary, because of its international character, for the
headquarters to be on the field, and such an arrangement
has many obvious advantages, especially when those who
direct the work are themselves experienced missionaries.
In the Mission there are both Home and China Depart-
ments which work in mutual co-operation, the duties of the
Home Departments being in reference to the examination,
acceptance, and training of candidates ; the promotion of
missionary interest by meetings and literature ; the receiving
of contributions for the work and the remitting of the same
to China, the auditing and publishing of Reports and
Accounts, together with many varied details of a general
nature.
314
Photos hy
The Shanghai Compoixd
"These premises liave been erected to the glory of God and the furtherance of His Kingdom in China
with funds specially contributed for the purpose." Inscription at entrance. See page 198.
Top.— Bottom floor all offices and box-rooms. Upper story home of Staft.
J\fi(M/e.— Prayer- meeting Hall in centre ; Hospital and Staff residences.
Bottom.— llomQ for missionaries passing through Shanghai. The central Kiosk was the builder's gift.
To face page 314.
THE MISSION FROM WITHIN 315
In China all new workers — who are missionary proba-
tioners for the first two years — whether from Great Britain,
North America, Australasia, or the continent of Europe,
are welcomed, and after a period of study at one of the
Language Schools, are appointed to their stations. At the
close of two years, those who have approved themselves, and
have passed the prescribed language examinations, are
received as junior missionaries, and at the end of another
three years, if the further examinations have been success-
fully taken, and he has otherwise approved himself, the
worker receives a certificate as a senior missionary, qualifying
him or her to take charge of a station.
The whole of the work is under the guidance of a General
Director, assisted in the Home countries by Home Directors,
Secretaries, and Advisory Councils ; and assisted in China
by a Deputy-Director, and advised by a Council composed
exclusively of missionaries, many of whom are Super-
intendents of provincial districts.
A visitor to the headquarters in London — and what is
said of London is more or less true of other Home countries —
would find not only offices but also a mission home. In
this Home missionaries going to or coming from China can
reside, an arrangement by which not only is social inter-
course between the workers cultivated, but the expense and
inconvenience of temporary lodgings avoided. The buildings
also afford box-room for the storing of luggage during
furlough and for packing purposes when about to sail. And
what is of greater importance, special accommodation has
been built or adapted for regular prayer meetings, which
have been a marked feature of the work, and maintained
from the beginning.
In the offices, housed within the same building, aU the
routine of the Mission's Home Department is carried on,
whether it be secretarial, financial, editorial, or general
office work. And here it may be mentioned that for many
years the Mission has had a regular Business Department,
by which means goods are purchased at trade terms, and
are shipped to Shanghai, where a large central Business
Department undertakes the receiving of orders from the
3i6 THE FIFTH DECADE
stations and the despatching of goods up country in return.
What with the personal needs of more than a thousand
workers, the erection of mission buildings, the maintenance
of schools, the equipment of hospitals, etc., it will be evident
that the demands of the Mission are many and varied.
This department by its ability to purchase wholesale enables
the Mission and missionaries to effect many economies, and
by being worked on a purely business basis, it is kept
independent of mission funds, though an integral part of the
Mission.
The Business Department in Shanghai, ably conducted
for many years by Mr. M. Hardman, was commenced in
1884, with a small sum for capital contributed by the late
Mr. Thomas Pigott.^ At first goods were purchased locally,
but now supplies are obtained from the United Kingdom,
Canada, Australasia, the United States, Italy, India, and
Singapore. This Shanghai centre deals with fourteen
smaller business departments in the interior, and these in
their turn despatch the goods to, or receive orders from,
those stations under their jurisdiction. Quarterly orders
are made up for London for such goods as are not stocked
and cannot be economically obtained locally. Through
this same department friends at home are able to forward
parcels or boxes to workers located at any station in China. ^
To show the nature and extent of this department's
operations, it may be mentioned that during one year more
than £7000 worth of goods were sent into the interior, of
which 80 per cent came directly out of stock. Among
these goods were 800 cases of tinned milk and 6 tons of
soap, all of which goods were unprocurable inland.
Another important branch of the work in Shanghai is
the Treasurer's Department, which was organized as a
separate office in 1886, when the late Mr. James F. Broumton
1 This sum has been added to during the past thirty years by the
gradual accumulation of a small percentage of profit as the department has
grown. No funds contributed for the work of the Mission have been
appropriated for the Business Department.
- During 1913 the London Business Department despatched 1250
packages weighing in all 100 tons, in addition to 10 tons of personal baggage.
THE MISSION FROM WITHIN 317
was appointed Treasurer in China, which post he held until
1905, when he was compelled finally to leave the country
on account of ill-health. For the first four or five years
the headquarters of this department were at Wuchang, but
these were transferred to Shanghai about 1891, Mr. J. N.
Ha3^vard, the present Treasurer, being appointed as Mr.
Broumton's colleague in August 1892. Mr. Hayward
became Acting-Treasurer in February 1903, and full Treasurer
in October 1905 ; Mr. George Howell being appointed as
his colleague in May 1904, and as Assistant-Treasurer in
October 1908.
A few details as to the modus operandi of this important
department, which Mr. Hayward has so ably organized and
superintended for some twenty years, will be of interest.
All the funds received from the several home countries are
centralized at Shanghai, where also all the accounts of the
Shanghai and other up-country business departments are
audited, a monthly balance-sheet being rendered by every
business centre. Some idea of the complexit}/ of these
accounts may be gathered when it is known that separate
accounts have to be kept for all the Associate Missions, for
the Chefoo and Ruling Schools, for all the special funds
contributed for individuals, for selected Chinese workers or
scholars, etc., each gift having to be remitted to that station
for which it is designated
Up to the year 1905 remittances were forwarded monthly
to the various mission stations, but as the membership of
the Mission grew, and the work of one month overlapped
that of another, quarterly payments commenced as from
January 1906. The income of three months, as received
from home, is accumulated in Shanghai for the outgoings
of the succeeding quarter, for the Mission only spends as it
receives, and never overdraws on the bank or goes into debt.
Regular estimates are received in Shanghai quarter by
quarter from all the stations, these estimates being approved
by the superintendent of the district. Quarterly accounts
also have to be sent in, these all being rendered in the
Shanghai currency, which in itself is no small task, since
every district has its own local weights and measures. The
3i8 THE FIFTH DECADE
estimates sent in are all in two parts, one relating to that
work for which the Mission has already accepted responsi-
biUty, and one relating to new items. During the third
month of each quarter the General Director, or his Deputy,
and the Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer, spend two or
three days carefully considering these estimates in the light
of available funds. Separate entries for each pa3mient and
receipts for the same are made out in Shanghai, these receipts
when signed being forwarded to the home countries for
purposes of official audit.
Though the advices are posted direct to each station,
the money, for the most part, is sent through the business
departments, which keep accounts with the stations con-
cerned. In some cases silver is forwarded by post ; but in an
ever-increasing number of instances missionaries are able
to obtain money from local banks or merchants in exchange
for cheques on Shanghai. In some of the provinces near
the coast cheques on the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank
can easily be cashed to-day.
In addition to all this regular work the Treasurer's
department, with the view to facilitate the remittance of
certain sums of money within the Mission, has issued a series
of dollar notes for the use of missionaries in China only,
which notes can only be circulated and cashed within the
mission circle. For the sending of money home to England
or other countries, a series of Credit Notes has been prepared,
which can be forwarded by any worker in China to the
Secretary in any of the home countries, with a request that
he will send the equivalent to the person named. Private
banking accounts have also been opened for workers in the
interior where this is desired or necessary, special business
department cheque books having been printed for this
purpose.
No trouble has been spared to make the financial arrange-
ments of the Mission as efficient and as helpful to the work
and the workers as possible, and it is only sa5dng the bare
truth when we state that the Mission has been greatly
blessed in those who have organized and conducted the
Treasury and Business departments of the Mission. The
THE MISSION FROM WITHIN 319
heavy and exacting labours involved have only been faintly
outlined, but it will be evident to all that the burden of
responsibility is not growing less, but rather otherwise.
Increasing demands are ever pressing upon the Mission as
the work grows and expands, while the Income seems at
times hardly equally elastic. Though the aim of the Mission
is to found a self-supporting and self-governing Church,
the rapidly increasing cost of living ; the need to care for the
widows of deceased Chinese helpers ; the inevitable increase,
as the work grows older, of those who through advancing
years or failing health have to retire ; the multiplication of
stations and out-stations, with all the varied claims of the
work connected with each, together with the recent cessation
of the Morton legacy, and the limitations imposed upon
many would-be givers by the present war, all combine to
entail upon the Treasurer's department a specially heavy
and exacting task.
It is from Shanghai also that the work of the Mission is
in general directed. In some respects the position of the
C.I.M. is the very opposite of other Missions. Other Societies
have their headquarters in one of the home-lands, and their
missions in many different countries ; in the case of the
C.I.M. the home departments are in several countries, while
the work itself is in China only, so that in China alone is it
possible for all the various home departments to find their
focus. Here, therefore, the General Director resides, keeping
in closest touch with the workers on the field, and with the
several home departments. Many and far-reaching are the
questions which he, and those associated with him, have to
settle in Shanghai. Here the relative claims of some two
hundred stations have to be considered, whether it be for
reinforcements, or for relief for furlough. Here has to be
decided the designation of new workers, which decision
involves the careful consideration of temperament, training,
capacity, together with the needs and problems of the
station to which the new worker goes. Delicate questions
affecting the personal relationships and affinities of workers,
whether foreign or Chinese, demand constant thought ;
320 THE FIFTH DECADE
while problems concerning comity with other Missions or
the delineation of boundaries, some of which have taken
years to settle, call for detailed consideration. Here in
Shanghai are discussed problems concerning independent
Church movements, the ownership of Church property,
persecutions, questions affecting policy and progress, and a
variety of subjects too many to enumerate.
To Shanghai are sent monthly reports from the mission-
aries, as well as an annual report from every station ; and to
the acknowledging of these must be added the multitudinous
correspondence, often of a personal nature, arising from
circumstances which call for counsel and decision in questions
of difficulty and importance, cheer in the case of discourage-
ment, or sympathy in the case of sickness or bereavement.
In Shanghai are kept the many Deeds of mission property
in China, all records connected with furloughs, marriages,
births, deaths, and examinations. And here is felt im-
mediately any special strain arising from crises such as the
Boxer outbreak or the recent Revolution. Twenty years
ago the greater part of the correspondence connected with
the general direction of the work could be accomplished by
the General Director, his Deputy, and Mr. James Stark,
but to-day four stenographers and t^^pists are needed to
keep pace with the many demands of the work.
For the systematic ordering of the records and the
methodical handling of a vast amount of important corre-
spondence, the warmest tribute is due to Mr. James Stark,
who for some years has graciously and ably discharged the
duties and responsibiHties of Secretary in Shanghai. It
need hardly be added that it is not only the quantity of
correspondence which taxes those responsible for directing
the work in Shanghai, but more especially its nature and
character ; and it has been with a desire to enable the reader
more intelligently to pray for those upon whom this burden
of direction rests that this imperfect glimpse into the Mission
from within has been given.
But this chapter, which deals so largely, though not
exclusively, with the headquarters at Shanghai, must not
close without the warmest and most grateful reference to
THE MISSION FROM WITHIN 321
the work of the ladies. No one can visit Shanghai and fail
to remember the gracious and self-forgetful services of Mrs.
Lachlan and Miss Oakeshott in the home, or the equally
valuable and helpful ministry of the other lady workers,
both single and married, in the hospital and business
departments. The Shanghai Compound, with its residents
who are servants of all, is a place for which to give thanks
to God upon every remembrance.
XLVII
THE REVOLUTION AND AFTER
Throughout the whole history of missions threatening
clouds of war have, with more or less frequency, darkened
the sky. Since Mr. Taylor first reached China the Taiping
rebellion and Crimean war, the Indian Mutiny and second
Opium war, the Tientsin massacre and Franco-Prussian
war, the French and Japanese wars with China, the South
African war and Boxer crisis, the Russian war with Japan,
and finally the Revolution, not to speak of the present
world-wide conflict, have seriously affected mission work
in that land. Throughout all these trying years, and
through days made anxious and perilous by innumerable
local riots and rebellions, the work has been steadily
maintained. Though the rough winds have blown,
the seed has been sown ; and though the storm-clouds
have burst, the ever-increasing harvest of soul has been
garnered.
For nearly forty-seven years the Mission's work was
carried on under Manchu rule, but towards the close of the
fifth decade the era of the so-called Republic began. The
masterful rule of the famous Empress Dowager, Tsu Hsi,
closed with her death and the simultaneous decease of the
Emperor, Kwang Hsii, in November 1908. In the months
of October 1909 and 1910 respectively the new Provincial
and National Assemblies met for the first time ; but in
October of the following year the long-planned and care-
fully organized Revolution broke forth. The abdication of
the Manchus followed on February 12, 1912, and three
322
THE REVOLUTION AND AFTER 323
days later H.E. Yuan Shih-kai was elected as Provisional
President.
During the reign of terror which preceded and followed
this change of government some of the finest and most
wealthy cities of China were looted and given over to the
soldiery. Though both of the contending parties were
anxious to protect the lives and property of foreigners, yet
the virtual suspension of settled government in many parts
of the country gave liberty to a criminal and lawless section
of the population to rob and plunder. Those missionaries
who, acting under consular instructions, withdrew to the
coast, and those who were enabled to remain on at their
stations, passed through many seen and unseen perils. At
Sianfu, sad to relate, Mrs. Beckman and her two children,
also Mr. Vatne and four other children of the Scandinavian
Alliance missionaries associated with the C.LM., were
murdered by a lawless mob on October 22, 1911. Two or
three other stations were looted, and several workers had
narrow escapes. But in view of the wide and grave dis-
orders which existed it was a cause for thanksgiving that
so few suffered.
In the midst of these distressing conditions, which lasted
with varying intensity for many months, and if the depreda-
tions of the famous brigand chief, White Wolf, be included,
continued for some two years, the missionaries were able,
in the majority of their stations, to continue their labours.
Unusual opportunities were afforded by the stress of the
times for winning the hearts of the people. In not a few
stations the Mission premises were besieged by the terrified
people, especially by the women, who begged to be allowed
to take refuge with the foreigner. Many openings were
also afforded for Red Cross work, for the care of destitute
refugees where houses and property had been destroyed by
artillery fire or by depredatory bands of soldiers. In several
instances the missionaries, by request of the local authorities,
acted as intermediaries between the revolutionary and
imperial troops, and by such intervention several cities
were spared the horrors of pillage and violence. By these
and other means a powerful and practical witness was
324 THE FIFTH DECADE
borne in the midst of civil war to the Christian Faith among
classes of people who in ordinary circumstances had been
quite indi^erent and even hostile to its influence. Large
numbers of these people turned from their idols and banded
themselves together in classes for the study of the Gospel.
The coming of the Republic was heralded by not a few
as though it was the beginning of the millennium in China,
but though time has proved, as might have been expected,
that a mere change of government cannot change the heart
of man, the Revolution was undoubtedly accompanied by
a most extraordinary opportunity for preaching the Gospel.
There was awakened on all hands an almost passionate
desire for better things than the past had afforded, and
many sought to find their ideal in Christianity. One notable
illustration of this, which took place in the very city where
Mr. Taylor was so seriously rioted in the early days, may be
given in Mr. A. R. Saunders' own words :
Large numbers of troops were being mobilized in and around
Yangchow under General Hsu Pao-san. At that time there existed
in China a fund for the distribution of Christian literature^ and the
time seemed most opportune to distribute Gospel portions and tracts
amongst the fifteen thousand troops then congregated in and around
that city. But previous attempts to obtain permission from the
Manchu Government had failed. Almost every conceivable excuse
was given why we should not undertake such a work, and refusal on
this occasion seemed almost inevitable. However, after prayer, I
sent my card to the office of a small military official. I would rather
risk refusal from him than from the General himself, but my card and
my request reached the General, and he asked for an interview. The
result of that interview was that, not only were we granted permission
to distribute Scripture portions and tracts to the troops, but he said,
" Preach to them " ; and his own brother, who was then Military
Governor of the city, was appointed to accompany us as we visited
the various camps. Seven half days were employed in that work, and
we visited all the camps. We were received with military honours
at each camp, and we had an opportunity of personal conversation
with the regimental officers. The troops were then drawn up in hollow
square, and, with the Military Governor of the city and the officers,
we took our stand in the middle of the square, and for half an hour
we preached the Gospel to the men. The books were then distributed,
but not by us ; we simply had to hand them out in packets, and the
THE REVOLUTION AND AFTER 325
officers distributed them to their own men. Moreover, the General
gave us a badge to admit us into any camp, without question, for the
purpose of preaching the Gospel. It bears the General's own seal,
with the words on one side, " A deputy of Jesus to preach the Gospel."
Returning after a month's itineration, I was going along the street
when the General's secretary met me and said, " The General would
like to see you." I went. He talked for a while about digging out
canals, and in the course of our conversation, I said, " General, what
are you going to do with all those men on Sundays ? They do not
drill." Imagine my surprise when he turned to me and said, " I would
hke you to preach to them." " All right," I said, " you find the place.
You give the necessary orders, and I will see to the preaching," and
we fixed the 5th of May last year for the opening meeting. It may
appear a mere coincidence, but to me it is a most interesting one, that
the first year of that work was completed on the very day of prayer for
China, the last Sunday of April. Well, we started those meetings, and
at the first three meetings only officers and non-commissioned officers
were asked to attend. This was by the General's own request, for he
said, '' Get the officers, and you have got the men." The staff officers
occupied the platform ; the officers were in the body of the hall, and
the two galleries were occupied by non-commissioned officers. A
wonderful gathering, and that in a city noted for its anti-foreign feeling,
and in the very city where the notable riot of 1868 took place.
Among other illustrations of the changed attitude, not
only of the people, but of the officials, may be mentioned
the publication of the constitution of an Independent Church
in the Shansi Provincial paper signed by the Governor ;
the ofhcial setting apart of a Day of Prayer by the Govern-
ment on Sunday, April 27, 1913 ; the opening of the grounds
of the historic Altar of Heaven at Peking, when evangelistic
services were held upon a platform where formerly the
Emperor prostrated himself in worship on behalf of the
nation. These and other almost equally noteworthy and
startling events emphasized how far conservative China
had moved within the space of a few years.
It was, however, impossible and even undesirable that
the revolutionary spirit should continue indefinitely. The
moral welfare of the nation was being seriously imperilled
by the over-hasty and indiscriminate disregard of Confucian
ethics — ^which not infrequently are in harmony with God s
law — before the Gospel had taken a serious hold upon the
326 THE FIFTH DECADE
life of the people. Licence was being frequently mistaken
for liberty, and republicanism or self-government was being
interpreted, or rather misinterpreted, as no government at
all. The reaction which set in was encouraged and sup-
ported by Yuan Shih-kai, who in his inaugural address as
President used the following noteworthy words :
For China Confucianism has always been a great moral safeguard,
and the changes and chances of four thousand years have certainly
left the essence of the doctrine secure from the ravages of time. The
greatest need of the nation can be summed up in the one word Morality.
. . . For no nation can stand save upon the eternal verities which
underlie right and wrong.
How far the reaction has yet to be carried time alone
can show,^ but it has been under conditions such as these,
when the pendulum in things political and religious has been
swinging to wide extremes, that the steadying influence of
the Gospel has been quietly making itself felt throughout
the country. Never before have such quantities of Christian
literature been scattered throughout the land. Millions
upon millions of Gospel portions and selected Scriptures
have been sold and distributed, while tens of thousands of
attractive Gospel posters have been pasted up in conspicuous
and commanding positions. In the Mission stations the
regular routine of work has been continued, while special
efforts have been made to reach the masses. Evangelistic
campaigns have been organized, village Tent Missions
arranged, special meetings for students as well as for women
have been held, and the zeal of many of the Christians has
stirred up the Churches to more aggressive work.
During the last two years between nine thousand and
ten thousand persons have declared their faith in Christ
by baptism in connection with the work of the C.I.M. alone,
and the increasing call for more and larger chapels is an
encouraging though embarrassing evidence of progress. In
several centres already chapels to seat a thousand persons
1 On December 23, 1914, Yuan Shih-kai performed at the Altar of
Heaven the immemorial rites which have been the sole prerogative of the
Emperor. The journey from his palace to the temple grounds was made
in an armoured motor-car !
THE REVOLUTION AND AFTER 327
have had to be erected, while the Gospel is regularly preached
in nearly a thousand smaller village chapels apart from the
larger city buildings in the CT.M. central stations. In more
than twelve hundred stations and out-stations the work is
being daily carried on. In season and out of season, in city
and country, by word of mouth and printed page, by kindly
ministrations to the sick and instruction to the young, the
messengers of the Gospel are seeking to save men.
Imperfectly, it may be, yet none the less sincerely and
humbly, the more than 1000 Members and Associates of the
Missions, ably assisted by some 2500 Chinese helpers, seek,
in the great work of evangelizing China, to follow the example
of the Apostle Paul, and commend themselves in everything
" as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in
necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in
tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings ; in pureness,
in knowledge, in long suffering, in kindness, in the Holy
Ghost, in love unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power
of God ; by the armour of righteousness on the right hand
and on the left, by glory and dishonour, by evil report and
good report ; as deceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, and
yet well known ; as dying, and behold, we live ; as chastened,
and not killed ; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing ; as poor,
yet making many rich ; as having nothing, and yet possessing
all things."
XLVIII
THE MISSIONARY AT WORK
In recording the growth of a Mission through a course of
fifty years, during which period " the Httle one " literally
has become " a thousand," it has not been possible, without
greatly enlarging the size of this volume, to do more than
outline the special developments which have marked the
extension of the work. Space has unfortunately not allowed
many typical extracts from letters and reports revealing
the missionary in the midst of his active life and work,
though he who reads between the lines will not fail to realize
something of the dangers and hardships which the mission-
aries have had, and still have, to undergo, and the spirit in
which they have done so. To supply the lack in some
measure this and the following chapter will be devoted to a
few selections showing the missionary engaged in his varied
manner of service.
It is sometimes erroneously believed that the dangers
and privations attending the work of the early days have
passed away, but this is far from true. It is a simple fact
that as great self-denial, courage and devotion are needed
to-day as in the early days of the work, though conditions
have in many respects changed. Within the last few
months, for instance, rumours so absurd that it is hardly
conceivable that credence would be given them have been
in circulation in Chekiang. The taking of a census of
children under fourteen years of age by the Board of
Education gave rise to reports that the foreigners were
somewhere building a bridge, for the support of the founda-
328
THE MISSIONARY AT WORK 329
tions of which the spirits of children were wanted. As a
result many Government Schools were destroyed and some
Mission ones were threatened, and had it not been that the
authorities took prompt and vigorous action, the situation
might have become serious.
If we pass from Chekiang to the Province of Honan, for
instance, we find the missionary at work in the midst of a
state of lawlessness which imperils both life and operations.
The depredations of brigand bands, connected with White
Wolf or encouraged by his successes, have recently brought
the greater part of that province into a condition of anarchy.
Mr. H. S. Conway, writing last year of Shekichen, said :
This has been a most tragic year for us, as our workers and station
have been in one constant condition of peril by robbers. For the last
seven months our circuit Evangelist has had to break off his rounds
at the fourth out-station, for beyond that the roads were impass-
able. The usual autumn Conference was quite impracticable. School-
work ha,s, with a few exceptions, come to a standstill, whilst colportage
and evangelistic work in the country have been greatly hindered.
On the other hand, never have we known a larger opportunity than the
crowded towns have afforded us. To speak of Shekichen alone, over
7000 families have been registered at the gates as refugees, and our
chapels are one long scene of curious people coming to see and hear.
The number of voluntary preachers, helping in the hall and on the
streets, has been a real encouragement. . . .
I can only summarize some of the items which have cost us so much
to bear and to deal with, and in this we have realized something of
what the Apostle Paul meant when he spoke of " the care of all the
Churches," and we have prayed that with him we might be able to
say, " Who is offended and I burn not ? "
Seven times have our out-stations been plundered ; four times have
robbers been quartered on our premises ; nineteen times have workers
been held up and more or less robbed by highwaymen ; twice have
workers been condemned to be shot, but the Lord delivered them ;
one worker was however shot, and still lies in a precarious condition ;
two of the Christians have been killed ; three times have Christians
been seized and held for ransom ; seven times have their homes been
wholly or partially destroyed ; five times has the Lord interposed to
deliver their homes from fire, when on each occasion nearly the whole
village was burned ; eleven times have their homes been wholly or
partially plundered. . . .
Christmas Day was an exciting day for us, for at 3.30 a.m. the noted
330 THE FIFTH DECADE
" White Wolf " with 2000 of his men attacked the town noiselessly :
great scaling ladders were placed against the wall. However^ they
were detected and repelled. . . . The Military Governor of the
province has issued a proclamation requesting all missionaries to leave
their stations during these dangerous days. I have received no less
than nine such notifications from one source or another, but knowing
that to leave would greatly precipitate troubles, we are all staying on,
unless otherwise advised by our Consuls.
These extracts concerning Shekichen have been given in
preference to others because they summarize so briefly the
trials and hardships which have been endured at many
stations, some of which have suffered even more than
Shekichen. At Liuanchow in Anhwei the whole city was
sacked and burned with fire, one Roman Catholic priest
was shot, though mercifully Mr. and Mrs. Entwistle and
their two boys were spared after many painful experiences.
Kwangchow in Honan and Laohokow in Hupeh, and other
cities fell into the hands of the brigands, resulting in dreadful
loss of life and property to the Chinese, and considerable
danger and hardship to the workers.^
From these scenes in the populous plains of Central
China let us pass to the hills of the south-west, where the
varied non-Chinese races have their rude habitations. Let
us in spirit accompany Dr. E. S. Fish on his first medical
missionary journey among the hills of Kweichow, a journey
lasting six weeks, and extending over some 600 English miles
of mountainous country, when between 1200 and 1500
patients were cared for. We must be up by daylight, and
after a light meal mount our shaggy mountain ponies. Day
after day we ascend and descend narrow and dangerous
roads, frequently with only a step between us and death.
We pass, sometimes unconsciously, robbers armed to the
teeth, lying in ambush, waiting for their unsuspecting
victims. Through long stretches of desolate wilderness,
the natural abode of wild animals, we press on, peering ahead
when darkness falls for the first glimmer of some welcome
camp fire. Through pouring rain and over narrow passes,
1 At Laohokow Dr. Froyland of the Norwegian Lutheran Mission was
killed and his colleague, Rev. O. M. Sama, seriously wounded.
THE MISSIONARY AT WORK 331
we make our way from village to village, sometimes stopping
to light a fire, with long grass for fuel, to boil some water
and make a basin of oatmeal. Swift and dangerous rivers,
which every year exact their toll of human life, have to be
forded, and we are glad when night falls to enter one of the
little Miao villages situated in its amphitheatre of hills.
These houses usually contain three compartments. At
one end is the living-room, with a hole in the mud floor for
a stove. The presence of a sleeping-mat, a few rags in one
corner, or a few boards resting on two blocks of wood,
indicate the place reserved for sleep. In the middle com-
partment are found the farm implements, while the third
part of the house is reserved for the animals. The partitions
are frequently low and made of branches ingeniously woven
together. Thankful for this shelter, such as it is, — and we
readily become accustomed to such accommodation, — we
settle for the night among the farm implements, in close
proximity to the pig-pen !
And now we must allow Dr. Fish to tell his own experi-
ences. It is August 25, 1913.
" I arose early/' he writes, " about 5 o'clock, hoping to have a
quiet time to myself before the duties of the day began. However,
it was to be otherwise, for I had no sooner arisen than patients began
to come and continued all day long. Only with the greatest difficulty
was I able to get away for my meals. For over twelve hours I was
just as busy as I could be. When I returned from dinner, they were
lined up outside the door for a considerable distance, while the inside
was packed with men, women, and children waiting for a chance to
press their way up the ladder where I was at work. I must have seen
nearly four hundred patients.
August 30. — " Yesterday we arrived at another chapel. As soon as
I had spread out my bedding and made the necessary preparations,
I began to examine the patients who had already gathered to await
our arrival. There was one continuous stream all day. An old lady
came in rather a unique vehicle. Being very poor and having no
proper chair, she was, however, quite equal to the occasion. A table
turned upside down and fastened between two bamboo poles served
very well as a sedan chair. Alas ! her disease was such that I could
do but little for her.
August 31. — " Sunday evening, just before dark, two men came to
ask for medicine for an old couple and a child — too ill to come them-
332 THE FIFTH DECADE
selves. I was unable to send medicine but said I would go to see them.
So^ taking my Chinese paper lantern and a box of matches^ we started
out. Our path led under the spreading branches of a beautiful walnut
tree, through cornfields, over stony bits of road, down the hillside,
till, finally, crossing an old stone bridge, we arrived at the humble
home. The dogs of the neighbourhood sought to impede our passage,
but my guide was well armed with a long stick, and I followed closely
at his heels. On reaching the house, one of the men pushed open the
brush door and told me to enter. I did so, and stepping inside, stood
for a moment and looked about me. On my right hand was the flimsy
partition which separated the flocks from the only other room, and
one could hear the heavy breathing of the animals, which also spoke
of their close proximity. In the centre of the room was a smouldering
fire — the only source of heat and light. At first, I could see but two
persons, an old man, and a young man about thirty years of age.
They were sitting opposite each other in the characteristic fashion,
which is the squatting posture. Then, as my eyes gradually became
accustomed to the dim light, I saw an object across the room, but could
not make out what it was. I imagined I could see the outline of a
human foot, but it did not seem possible that the object I had been
scrutinizing was actually a person.
" As I was about to step forward, I looked down to make sure of
my footing, and was almost startled to see the outline of a bare back
lying at my feet. Nothing else was visible ; but, by the length of it,
I knew it to be that of a child. Kneeling down, I turned back a bit
of ragged old rug, and there lay a boy of about nine years of age, with
his back turned toward the fire. Not a particle of clothing covered
his body. It was most pathetic to see a child of such tender years
lying thus upon the damp mud floor in the grip of a disease. He
resisted, strongly, every effort I made to examine him. Evidently,
he did not wish to be disturbed. I paused a moment, then carefully
covered him again, and left him as he was, for the simple reason that
he was in the best place that his home could afford. Then, with careful
tread, I made my way over to the object which had attracted my
attention before, but which I could not believe was a human being.
Turning back another ragged and filthy rug, which had evidently
seen many years of service, I beheld a sight I believe I shall never
forget. A woman lay there— dying. She, too, was lying on the
damp ground, clad in the scanty remnant of what was once a garment.
Her hair was dishevelled, her form emaciated, both eyes glued together
with a copious discharge, and her four limbs so entangled that I could
scarcely find a place to put my stethoscope on her chest. She made
no resistance. Once she tried to speak, but her strength was too far
gone. She had reached that stage where she was quite oblivious to
her surroundings. Already she was entering that ' Land from whose
THE MISSIONARY AT WORK 333
bourn no traveller e'er returns/ and it did not require a prolonged
examination to satisfy me that the time of her departure was at hand.
" Having examined the two men, I was about to leave, but stood
for a moment at the door, before turning away from that fireside
scene, the memory of which shall long remain. All that passed
through my mind at that time can better be imagined than described.
Gazing upon the representatives of three generations, it seemed as
though I never realized before what claims these people have upon
me. How appalling their poverty ! how great their need ! what I
had just se^n was sufficient to influence one's entire future life. And
it seems to me, in days to come, when I may be tempted to spend
money for the gratification of my own desires, I shall think of this night's
experience and of these great tribes who need just what, in a measure,
we have to give. I was a httle surprised to find the man, who had
escorted me to the house, standing by my side, weeping. Why ?
Because that woman lying in such a pitiable condition was his mother.
As we walked slowly back through the cornfields and along the quiet
unfrequented pathway I could not help thinking of all that I had just
seen, and almost unconsciously I found myself asking myself the great
unanswerable questions of human life and experience. Why was it
that when I first saw the light it was not through the open end of a
Miao hut ? Why had a kind Providence given me so many blessings
that had been denied others ? Why had I been born in a land where
the only true God is known by all and loved by many, while others are
left to grope along in the darkness of a starless night, knowing not at
what they stumble, sacrificing to demons, burdened with superstitions
and fears — ' having no hope and without God in the world ' ? I do
not know the ' Why ? ' but I believe I caught a glimpse of my personal
responsibility, that night, such as I had not before.
ktll" While giving the son medicine — such as I had with me — I spoke
to" him of the Great Physician and of the ' Land that is fairer than
day ' where ' God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain : for the former things have passed away.'
I was thankful to learn that his mother was trusting in the finished
work of our Lord Jesus Christ — the only Saviour of men, wherever
found, whether in a Miao hut or in the palace of a king."
From these poverty-stricken homes among the hills of
Kweichow, where through the outpourings of the Grace of
God the people, though poor, are frequently spiritually rich,
let us pass to the capital of the neighbouring province of
Szechwan where efforts are being made to reach the wealthy
but spiritually neglected classes. Here are situated large
334 THE FIFTH DECADE
and important Government schools, with many influential
families. The spiritual needs of both scholars and their
relations have been laid upon the hearts of Mr. and Mrs.
Hampson, who have, in consequence, opened their home
every Sunday afternoon for an English Bible Class, at
the request of the Government students themselves. The
membership of this class within a few months rose to thirty,
and those who come are all men from official families and
wealthy homes. Some come from the Foreign Office, some
from the Government Law School, some from the Foreign
Language School, etc. One is the brother of the Shanghai
Likin Officer, another is the nephew of the Vice-President
of the Provincial Assembly, and another a good French and
English scholar who desires to go abroad to study inter-
national law.
Sunday by Sunday these men arrive, usually coming
early and manifesting no haste to go. The Gospel of Mark
is chosen as a subject for study, and week by week the Life
of Our Lord is read and discussed. Some of these men are
learning the value of prayer, and some freely seek advice
about many problems and even personal questions. Many
have brought their families and friends to visit their hosts
and teachers, and in this way the missionaries have been
brought into touch with many wealthy homes. Is it strange
that the missionaries' hearts go out to these needy rich, who
are counselled to buy of Christ " gold refined with fire "
that they may become rich, for, as Dr. Fish reminded us,
Christ is the only Saviour " wherever found, whether in a
Miao hut or in the palace of a king."
Our next place of call is not far removed, for a short
walk will bring us to the Bible Training School, located
within the same city, where Mr. and Mrs. Grainger devote
their time to the training of evangelists and preachers.
Here we must spend a whole day to follow the routine of
these students' lives.
The bell rings at 8 a.m. Mr. Chang, the monitor for the week,
unlocks the class-room door, and the students and servants troop in
for morning prayers, led by Mr. Chang, while Mr. Ho takes the organ.
THE MISSIONARY AT WORK 335
8.15 A.M. Worship over, breakfast is served. Two students,
chosen by ballot at the beginning of the month, are responsible for the
commissariat, thus relieving the Principal of a great burden.
9 A.M. Promptly on time the bell rings, and all the students, both
men and women, again meet in the class-room. God's blessing on the
work of the day having been sought, the teacher begins the music
lesson. The women students (students' wives all of them) remain to
this class, and the teacher's wife presides at the organ.
9.30 A.M. Repetition of memorized Scripture passages. To-day's
portion is Psalm xxiii. Each rises in turn and repeats carefully,
giving chapter and verse. In the monthly revision exam, the portions
selected must be written out correctly in characters.
9.40 A.M. Bible Study. The portion for to-day is Judges xiv.-xvi.,
and the student must familiarize himself with the facts of the lesson,
making notes of difficulties needing explanation.
10.40 A.M. Interval.
10.45 A.M. Lecture. The portion just studied, the story of Samson,
is now expounded in detail, the students taking notes. Seventy-five
minutes' talk by the teacher leaves httle unexplained, but Mr. Li
would like to know what became of the gates of Gaza : and Mr. Chang
is not quite clear concerning the spiritual significance of " Howbeit
the hair of his head began to grow again."
12 noon. The teacher's dinner-hour, but students continue to
write up notes.
12.30 P.M. Secular studies. Yesterday we took Universal History,
and to-morrow we shall take Geography, but to-day being Tuesday
our subject is Church History, and we have just reached the story
of the persecutions of the Christians of Lyons and Vienne. The text-
book being in stiff classical Chinese, obscure phrases and uncommon
characters have to be explained before the lesson can be proceeded
with.
1.30 P.M. Class on Church History, with warning and encourage-
ment for the Church of to-day.
2 P.M. Students' dinner-hour, etc.
3 P.M. After a short season of prayer the students disperse to four
street chapels in different districts. A few minutes later the teacher
follows ; assisting in the singing of a hymn and collecting of a crowd
in the first chapel, listening to a preacher in the second, quietly passing
by the third, where a crowd has already gathered round the door, and
preaching for a short time in the fourth.
5 P.M. The students are now free for two hours, some taking a turn
on the bars.
7 P.M. Memorizing Scripture and general revision.
8 P.M. A gentle tinkle of the bell is a signal for closing books and
for evening prayers.
336 THE FIFTH DECADE
Thus terminates one day in term time in one of the
several Bible Training Institutes connected with the Mission,
where many of the coming Chinese leaders are being trained
for future service. With obvious modifications the day
outlined may be taken as typical of the routine followed in
many scores of Mission schools.
XLIX
ALL MANNER OF SERVICE
Of the many means employed to make known the Gospel
to the Chinese, the C.LM. has ever given the first place to
direct evangelism. That we may gain some acquaintance
with this important form of service, let us in spirit set forth
with a little company — typical of many — bent upon a
preaching tour in that part of Anhwei which is south of the
Yangtze. The party consists of Mr. A. Mair, Evangelist
Tong, a cook, two coolies to carry the bedding and the
books, and two chair-bearers, for Mr. Tong, the evangelist,
is not physically able to tramp the roads as the missionary
intends to do. Our purpose is to pay a visit to Tong-shan-
hsia, an out-station sixty miles south of Anking, and we
purpose to evangelize the places en route.
The first stage is down China's great central waterway
from Anking to Chihchow, and for this we take passage on a
launch which we find as crowded with humanity, both above
and below deck, as men can pack themselves. After some
hours of discomfort, Chihchow is reached, at which spot we
take to the road, and about six o'clock in the evening we
march into the town of Ingchiahwei. From this point Mr.
Mair shall tell the story in his own words :
The day has been warm^ for it is well on in March, and the coolies
are tired and in a grumpy mood. Down go their burdens with a grunt
of reUef at the door of an inn. We settle in, and then while the cook
is preparing supper, we sally forth, accompanied by the Evangelist
with books and tracts. The town of Ingchiahwei is one long busy
street, with all sorts of shops and dwelling-houses mixed together.
337 Z
338 THE FIFTH DECADE
It has the worst reputation of an}' place in those parts. But did
not the Master say that He came to call sinners to repentance ? As
servants of the Master we therefore have a message for the people
of Ingcliiahwei.
" Here's a foreigner ; what does he want ? " says one man to another^
as we near the entrance gate of the town. In answer we produce our
books and soon a crowd gathers around. To them we address our-
selves.
" We have come because we have Good News for you. The One
True God loves you and has given a demonstration of His love. He
sent His Son to die on a cruel cross to save you from your sins."
" How much for your books ? " asks a small fellow. We mention
the price — less than a farthing for one of the Gospels with an illustrated
leaflet thrown in.
" What ! both for one ch'ao ? " he asks in astonishment.
" Yes/' we reply.
'' Then I want a book and a picture/' he yells^ making a grab at the
bundle.
" I want too ; I want too/' comes from all sides^ and many hands
are thrust forward with coppers.
Alas ! it is not always thus that such eagerness is exhibited. Some
of the shopkeepers are as nasty and as bitter as they can be. No
sooner do we cross their thresholds than they snap out — " We do not
want your books ; we want nothing to do with them." As the night
is now fallings and it is time to go back to supper, we not unwillingly
retire. The cook has done well in our absence, and good pork, rice and
vegetables await us. It may sound rather prosaic to speak of rice,
pork, and a dirty old inn, but we would not care to change places with
any one on the face of the universe. About 200 Gospels have found
their way into heathen homes, and because of this, there is joy in our
hearts.
We were to have been up and away at break of day, but the rain
has come down in torrents all night, making the road impassable.
We must therefore content ourselves where we are for this day at least,
and so we take out our large Gospel posters to do sometliing with them.
A ladder is borrowed and we at length set forth with posters and paste.
The first one is pasted up right over the gate leading into the town,
and another one on a building just inside. All who go in and out of the
gate now, if they can read, will see the invitation to trust in the one
Name given among men whereby they can be saved. These posters
being rainproof will remain up some time unless they are torn down.
A large crowd has by this time turned out to see what we are doing,
and so another opportunity is secured for making known our Message.
The next day the weather is not altogether inviting, but as the
coolies and chair-bearers are anxious to go forward, we agree. At
ALL MANNER OF SERVICE 339
our mid-day resting-place nearly the whole population turns out to
see us, so that more Gospel portions are sold, and the glad message
proclaimed. Ere we leave the village, it commences to rain, and soon
the roads get muddy and slippery, but with broad Chinese umbrellas
over our heads and good shoes on our feet we feel ready for anything.
Forward we splash and stumble through the mud until Kaotan is
reached, and here we stop and spend the Sunday.
Monday dawns bright and clear, and the coolies are refreshed and
cheerful, so we set off in high spirits. The road leads along the bank
of a mountain stream which we have to cross and recross about a dozen
times. As the river is in spate and the plank bridges swept away, we
have to take to the water. At one crossing the current is exceptionally
strong, and one of the coolies slips with his load into the swirling waters.
Though he clings tenaciously to the bedding the box of books is carried
away down stream. The coolie reaches the bank and sits down
groaning, wliile one of the chair-bearers rushes along the bank in pursuit
of the box, which he eventually returns with in great glee. Alas ! the
books and tracts are soaked through and through, but we console
ourselves with the thought that that is better than an injured bearer.
Tong-shan-hsia, the out-station, is reached at last, where we receive
a warm welcome. The next day is given to drying the books and tracts,
and to making preparations for the remainder of the journey. We
arrange for the evangelist to remain as he will be a great spiritual help
to the people, while we press on through practically unevangelized
country towards Hweichowfu. After a warm day's tramp we enter
the village of Tang, where two of our inn companions are Buddhist
priests. We sit down beside the younger and enquire where he
comes from,
'' From the town of Chinyang," he replies.
" I once visited Kinhwashan," I added, seeking to arouse his interest
by a reference to that sacred mount.
" You there I " he ejaculates in a surprised tone. " And what were
you doing there ? "
" Propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ," we reply, and thus a
personal talk about the Gospel is introduced.
The night which follow^s has no rest for us, for gambling with all
its attendant uproar lasts till dawn. Early in the morning, we leave
the wretched inn with heavy hearts, as we think of the sad state of the
inmates. New country is entered, and as we pass hamlet and village
we become objects of curiosity giving us renewed opportunities of
fulfilling our mission. With what a thrill of joy we see the Name of
Jesus Christ left on the walls of the people's homes ere we depart.
Oh ! that the Saviour Himself might have a welcome within.
Still onward we go until Hweichowfu is reached, where happy
fellowship is had with fellow missionaries, and then we set forth for
340 THE FIFTH DECADE
the return journey, reaching our point of departure once again after
an absence of five weeks, during which time we have walked 300 miles
and travelled 50 miles more by native boat.
Thus terminates one of many thousands of similar
journeys which have been made all over China, during which
the Gospel has been preached to millions of needy people,
and hundreds of thousands of Scriptures have been left in
the homes of those whom Christ came to save. In all this
work the itinerant missionary of to-day has one ambition
before him, and that is, that he may tread in the footsteps
of the disciples of old, who " went forth, preaching every-
Vv^here, the Lord working with them, and confirming the
word by signs that followed."
To the physically fit, the rough and hardy open-air life
demanded in itinerant evangelism has joys and compensa-
tions denied to other kinds of labour. From the open roads
with God's heaven above we must now proceed to very
different scenes as we accompany another band of workers,
both Chinese and foreign, for these are seeking to carry the
saving and comforting Message of Life to the miserable and
otherwise hopeless inmates of a Chinese prison. For many
good reasons we must be prepared to pay this visit without
asking questions as to locality, etc., for this privilege is
somewhat uncommon, and it is important that those who
grant it should not be laid open to censure from above.
The privilege of taking the Gospel to the inmates of this
place was sought and obtained by a young Chinese Christian,
who, though in business employ, was filled with the com-
passion of Christ for his suffering fellow-countrymen. Every
Sunday the little group of four or five workers receives a
warm welcome from those in charge as well as from the
convicts, and much is this opportunity valued for proclaim-
ing to these unhappy ones the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The leader of the little band of workers shall be our guide :
The prison is situated on the outskirts of the city, and on one side
abuts the barracks, where soldiers are always on guard in case of need.
The buildings are of the usual Chinese type, of one storey, and of poor
quality. After passing through the entrance gateway, over which
ALL MANNER OF SERVICE 341
might well be written^ " x\bandon hope all ye who enter here/' we
pass through the small court-room in which prisoners are tried. Be-
yond this is a yard from which opens out a long narrow passage leading
to where the prisoners are confined. Down this passage is the office
of the head official, and also some small rooms, one of which serves as
a kind of hospital for sick prisoners, and another apparently for those
awaiting trial. Then turning a sharp corner, the passage opens out
into a small courtyard. On one side is a heavy wooden barred door,
which is the entrance to the prisoners' quarters. Within this, immedi-
ately on the left hand and opposite the warder's room, is a door made
of thick timber with spaces of three inches between them. Peering
through these narrow openings into the semi-darkness beyond, can be
seen a room about 14 feet square, lighted and ventilated only by a
small iron grating.
Upon a raised floor within are mats, and upon these there are some
twenty men crouching, squatting or lying. The space available cannot
allow all the men to lie down together at night. Who but Chinese
could endure the fearful monotony of lying or sitting here for years
together ? Some were under sentence for fifteen years, and none for
less than five years, and some of them are heavily manacled. Here
before the fast-closed door we are allowed to stand, while one of our
number tells, as best he can through the bars of the door, the message
of salvation. Were it not for the love and power of the Living Christ
the task would seem hopeless, but He who came to bind up the broken-
hearted, to proclaim Hberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound, is able for what to us appears impossible.
From this common cell we pass out into a small rectangular court-
yard about 20 feet broad by 40 feet long. On the right hand is a long
narrow building running the whole length of the courtyard, in which
are confined about sixty convicts, some being heavily manacled. At
the end of the same courtyard is still another building not m^ore than
40 feet by 15 feet in which there are at least seventy men. Both these
rooms are cleaner, lighter and better ventilated than the first one,
and into these two rooms we are allowed to enter and speak freely
with the prisoners. Nowhere could there be found more attentive
audiences. The fact of sin and its awful results, even in this life, are
obvious. God's great love to them individually. His readiness to save,
the infinite yearning of His heart over the unrepentant and disobedient,
the open door to whosoever will, together with some personal testimony,
are words of hope to these poor men.
Many confess that they have accepted Christ, and one of the warders
says that they always say a prayer before taking their food. How
much all this really means only the Searcher of all hearts knows, but
the coming Day will declare the results of these regular visits to one
of the many, and by no means the worst, of China's prisons.
342 THE FIFTH DECADE
As a contrast to this humble and heartbreaking work
among the unfortunate inmates of one of China's prisons, we
pass to an entirely different scene. It is Wednesday after-
noon, January 15, 1913, and we find ourselves, after a railway
journey on one of China's trunk lines, in company with
some eighty medical missionary delegates, who have
assembled for the Triennial Meetings of the China Medical
Missionary Association, standing in the large Reception
Hall of President Yuan Shih-kai's place of residence. We
have all been met and welcomed in the most kindly and
cordial way by the President's Secretary, and ere long the
President himself appears. An Address, previously pre-
pared by the Committee of the Medical Missionary Associa-
tion, is read to the President, and then he without use of
notes, much to the surprise and pleasure of all, replies in
his pure Honanese dialect in a simple and unaffected manner.
After expressing his gratitude for " the charitable
services ' ' rendered by the medical missionaries to his people,
" especially in the interior of the country " ; to the work
during " the disastrous plague of two years ago in Man-
churia " ; to the Red Cross work carried out during the
Revolution when " many of you, facing difficulties and
running risks, were out in the field to relieve the large number
of sufferers " ; he refers to the Church and expresses his
appreciation of Christian Missions. " I feel very deeply
indebted to you, and am very glad that in receiving you
to-day I am able to express my personal thanks."
At the close of this address, all present had the honour
of filing past the illustrious speaker, each one receiving a
shake of the hand and having an opportunity of expressing
his personal appreciation of his kindness. Following this
reception, the company is entertained with refreshment,
and all come away very favourably impressed with the
President's greatness, and happy in the thought that he
looks so favourably upon the work of Medical Missions.
Times have changed indeed in this ancient capital of an
ancient people, and without putting our trust in princes or
presidents, we thank Almighty God for the open door and
unprecedented opportunities of to-day.
ALL MANNER OF SERVICE 343
From Peking we take train and travel along a fascinating
mountain railway into the heart of Shansi, and ultimately
reach the city of Hwochow, open to the Gospel through Mrs.
Hsi's self-denying sale of her own jewellery. This station,
opened by a woman, has been worked by women. Two of
those now passed to their reward, the Misses Stevens and
Clarke, were among the martyrs of 1900, and some of the
school buildings now standing have been erected in their
memory. Adjoining the large and flourishing school is
another courtyard, where we shall find buildings specially
erected for a Women's Bible School ; and if we examine the
stone inserted in the wall, we shall read that these buildings
were erected by the members of Dr. Campbell Morgan's
Church, thus linking up the well-known Bible School of
Westminster with this missionary effort for women so far
away.
Miss Jessie Gregg, who has felt the call to hold special
evangelistic missions for women, has come to Hwochow, now
in charge of the Misses E. and F. L. French and Miss A. M.
Cable, to hold a five days' Mission. The very idea of such
a Mission is a wonderful thing. Only forty years ago the
Chinese Government had definitely attempted to veto
women's work, and now a special Mission for them is pro-
posed. There is some natural anxiety as to the response
which will be met with, for this is the first effort of this
nature made in this city. As the time draws near the
workers one evening are discussing the prospects, when, just
as they are about to retire for the night, the rumble of heavy
springless carts is heard at the front door. The gate is
opened with alacrity, and there drawn up in the dark, with
lanterns hanging from the shafts, are no fewer than thirteen
carts with their crowded passengers. This was indeed a
good augury for what was to follow ! Next day trains of
donkeys and other beasts of burden reach the Mission
premises, there being sometimes as many as twenty animals
in one cavalcade. Soon the whole compound is one scene
of excited activity. The courtyards became veritable
camps, for some four to five hundred women have assembled,
many from long distances, and the orderly conduct of such
344 THE FIFTH DECADE
an occasion, from the kitchen arrangements to the meetings
themselves, calls for careful organization.
The sight is one to make the workers' hearts leap for joy.
Four to five hundred women met together to hear the
Gospel ! This is a sight which many missionary pioneers
have longed to see, but saw not ; and many things are
heard which our fathers desired to hear, but heard not.
Blessed, indeed, are our eyes to-day, for they see these
things, and our ears, for they hear them.
Meeting follows meeting, until one afternoon the Spirit
of God falls upon the gathered company. The experience
must be related in Miss Gregg's own words :
I was speaking that afternoon on the verse in Matthew, '' Whose
fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather
His wheat into the garner, but He will burn up the chaff with un-
quenchable fire " ; and I made the women repeat the verse over and
over again. It was an eastern picture, and every one could under-
stand it. And, as we repeated the verse, the Word of God began to
get hold of the people. One felt the presence of God hovering round
us. We cried unto God, and I was led to say just these few words.
I said : " You know in this meeting this afternoon there are only two
kinds of people. If you are not chaff you are wheat, and if you are
not wheat you are chaff." A very simple thing to say, but God used
that word ; and the Holy Spirit fell upon the meeting. A mighty
wave of conviction swept over that meeting, and over ninety women
decided for Christ that afternoon. It is gloriously possible for those
women, the very first time they hear the Gospel, to believe and be
saved. I shall never forget the testimony meeting. We always wound
up with a testimony meeting. Over two hundred and twenty-five of
these women testified to blessing received, more than half of whom
had decided for Christ during those days. People will say, '' Will
they stand ? " Yes, if they are born of God they will stand. Do
not let us hinder God by our unbelief. He is able to save, and He is
doing it.
As we bring this chapter to a close, we cannot conclude
without one glance at a Chinese convert himself at work.
The end of the missionary's task is to see the Chinese them-
selves in Christ's service. We must in this case go back to
Hangchow, the city which became the first Chinese home of
the Lammermuir party, and here we shall find the work of
the C.I.M. in charge of Pastor Ren, a man whose whole life
ALL MANNER OF SERVICE 345
and substance have been devoted to the Master's service,
while the salaries of all his Chinese helpers are paid out of
his own pocket. From one of his annual reports we select
a few extracts. In accordance with Chinese literary taste,
he divides his report into four heads — Spring, Summer,
Autumn, and Winter. The following paragraphs are taken
from the Spring portion :
In the first moon of the spring we called together all who take an
active part in preaching the Gospel, for the purpose of setting apart
the special preachers two by two to go forth on itinerating journeys.
But, alas, man may propose, but God alone disposes, and right in the
midst of our bright anticipations of a good harvest, and just as we were
fully prepared to carry out this new feature of work in our Churches,
the Lord in His mysterious Providence sent upon us a terrible epidemic
of scarlet fever. But thanks be unto God that notwithstanding that
my own family and even myself personally were all involved, and one
of our number taken to Heaven by this visitation, leaving a clear
testimony behind that she was gone to be with the Lord, yet not one
of the preachers selected for this itinerating journey was laid aside by
this scourge. We were comforted by God's goodness and mercy to
us in the clear testimony of the dear adopted child taken from us,
and in the fact that our appointed brethren were not hindered in their
mission to the Churches and congregations under our care.
I myself was on account of this fever hindered, but now I perceive
that the Lord had something else and of as great importance for me to
do at home. This was to receive the large number of candidates and
inquirers who came in groups seeking instruction at my hands. Among
these many visitors were literary men, men of wealth and influence,
besides men of business and high military rank. Alas, our Church
members became quite elated at the prospect of such men entering
our Church. In vain I endeavoured to check their excitement, and to
free their minds from illusory visions. I was thankful to God I was
hindered from joining the work of itineration. All the months from
the first moon right on to the sixth moon, I was occupied many hours
of each working day in hearing and answering questions from these
interested groups of visitors and inquirers, and God eventually sifted
these men. There were good and bad fish in the drag-net. It took
a lot of strength out of me to reason out before our Church members
and others that the religion of Jesus does not thrive by worldly pomp
and power, and that the Church of God is a spiritual structure. I
reminded them of our forefathers in the field who were all fishermen
of Galilee, all poor men, and the Church must not look to rich men of
influence for its life and support. Gradually as the days passed by
346 THE FIFTH DECADE
our brethren began to see with me^ and those few who were truly
seeking in Him the pardon of their sins remained with us. Praise
God ! It is all of His mercy we are not deceived by outward appear-
ances. Oh^ pray the Lord of the harvest to keep us from the too wide
open arms at these times. God alone can keep us. Pray for us.
These few glimpses of missionary and Chinese pastor in
the midst of their labours must suffice to suggest what could
be told of scores of other stations and of many other forms
of service. " There are diversities of gifts but the same
Spirit. And there are diversities of ministries and the same
Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same
God who worketh all things in all."
THE YEAR OF JUBILEE
Fifty-five years have passed since Mr. Taylor wrote home
from China, asking his father if he knew of any earnest
devoted young men desirous of serving God in that land.
Five years later, or fifty years ago, after several workers had
gone forth, the Mission was definitely inaugurated under its
present name. Little could those early pioneers, or their
devoted leader, have imagined to what dimensions their
small band would grow. Unsupported by the great of this
world, confronted by almost incredible difficulties, beset
behind and before by innumerable trials, perplexed by
apparently insoluble problems, disciplined incessantly in
faith and patience, chastened by many personal sorrows,
persecutions, and bereavements, the Mission has not only
continued to this day, but has yearly enlarged its borders,
and what is best of all, has been used to evangelize, in part
at least, vast unevangelized regions.
The secret of all this is found in nothing less than in God
Himself. The work was begotten of God, has been sustained
by God, and blessed by God. Out of weakness His servants
have been made strong ; the grain of mustard seed, small in
itself, has grown into a great tree because living faith in God,
a faith given by God Himself, has been in it. All that has
been recorded in these pages has been written to show forth
the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into
His marvellous light, and has given us this ministry of
reconciliation. Yet what has been written is not one tithe
of what could be told. When we seek to tell what God hath
347
348 THE FIFTH DECADE
wrought, we find it " cannot be set in order " ; when we
desire to declare and speak of all His wondrous works, " they
are more than can be numbered."
Since the outbreak of the recent Revolution the writer
spent eleven months in China, travelling from station to
station. With but few and brief breaks, the whole time,
summer and winter, was spent in passing from one Mission
centre to another, yet when that somewhat arduous though
intensely interesting tour was finished, only a very small
portion of the work of this one Mission had been seen.
Judging by the experiences of that year, it is not too much
to say that five years would at least be needed to personally
visit all the central stations of the C.I.M. alone ; and if it
were desired to see all the out-stations as well, another ten
if not twenty years would need to be added. This statement
will perhaps help the reader to realize over what an extensive
area the stations of the Mission are located. The area of the
provinces in which the Mission works is more than one and
three-quarter million square miles.
When one tries in retrospect to realize the labour involved
in the opening of these stations in this land of far distances
and vast multitudes, and the mercies which have encom-
passed the work and workers to make this labour possible,
the mind becomes " lost in wonder, love, and praise."
Millions of miles have been travelled by land and sea.
Shipwrecks there have been, and many moments of great
peril, yet we believe we are correct in saying that only three
lives have been lost by the dangers of the road, one in the
Chefoo Harbour, one in flooded country in Kiangsi, and the
third in a rapid on a Kweichow mountain river.
And what shall we say about the financial mercies of
these fifty years ! Funds have been needed for thousands
of passages to and from China, and for hard and incessant
travelling in China itself ; for the building of schools,
hospitals, chapels, dwelling-places ; for the support of more
than fifteen hundred Chinese helpers, and more than a
thousand missionaries. Yet the money has all come in
answer to prayer ; and though faith has been tested, and
many painful economies have had to be practised, every
THE YEAR OF JUBILEE 349
need has been supplied for fifty years, and that without
authorized collections or personal appeals for funds. All
we can say is, that the God who fed Elijah and gave
manna to Israel in the wilderness is the God of His people
to-day.
But further, when we remember the conservatism of
China, her anti-foreign spirit, her determination to keep her
provinces, her towns and cities closed against the unwelcome
intruder ; when we recall the pride of her scholars, her
belief in the self-sufficiency of her own religions, her contempt
of foreign learning and of the " Jesus Religion " — how shall
we explain her opened cities to-day, and what is more, her
opened mind, and the thousands of humble followers of the
despised Nazarene ? Wars have, we know, been God's
instrument in shaking her from her lethargy and breaking
down her foolish isolation. But though wars may have
compelled her to accept our commerce, and yield for many
years to the iniquitous opium traffic, no gun or sword yet
forged can compel any man to welcome Jesus Christ as
Lord and Master of his life, and this is what hundreds of
thousands of Chinese have done.
Here again we are face to face with a marvel, and that
the greatest marvel of all. There are few things money
cannot buy, there are few things power cannot seize ; but
only love can really win a man, and only the dying love of
Christ can turn a sinner from the error of his way, and make
him a child of God. The miracle of that love has been at
work in China, and it has been the glad lot of the C.I.M. to
welcome more than fifty thousand sinners, redeemed by
Grace, into the Fold of Christ's Church. And these figures
are by no means the measure of what has been accom-
plished. Many thousands who have never been baptized,
who have been prevented by sickness or distance, or, in the
case of women and juniors, by the opposition of the senior
members of their clan, from thus publicly acknowledging
their Lord, have yet learned and confessed in more private
fashion that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who taketh
away the sin of the world. If it be true that " he who
converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a
350 THE FIFTH DECADE
soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins," then,
what a blessed ministry has been the portion of those who
have gone down to this spiritual battle, as well as of those
who by their gifts and prayers are enrolled as amongst those
who " tarry by the stuff."
But far beyond the fruit yet gathered has been the
influence of these years of toil. In many places the hard
soil has been broken up and the seed of life sown. Pre-
judices have been overcome, antagonisms have yielded,
apathy has disappeared, and interest in that which is most
vital has been awakened. With every year that passes
the results of past efforts are being seen. The seed cast
upon the waters is being found after many days as an ever-
increasing harvest. Up to the time of the Boxer crisis
the number of persons baptized from the commencement
had not reached a total of 15,000 persons, and the highest
number for the best year had been under 1400. In the
fourteen years which have elapsed since that date 35,000
converts have been baptized, and of that number more than
9500 were received during the last two years. In the early
days there was naturally little reaping but much of difficult
and often discouraging seed-sowing. To-day, though much
seed-sowing is still necessary, there is the joy of harvest.
In what has been written emphasis has naturally been
laid upon the work accomplished, but this volume must not
close without some reference to the work which still remains
to be done. So great and vast are the needs of China that
they altogether defy description. Even now more than half
of China's two thousand walled cities are without a resident
missionary, and there are, in addition, some seven thousand
smaller towns, the majority of which have no resident
witness for Christ. And as to the villages of China, who
knows their number ! To give one illustration : if we were
to visit one of the 85 counties into which the province of
Shensi is divided, we should find 900 walled villages. One
missionary and his wife are the only Protestant missionaries
in this county, and it would take them three years to visit
all these villages if one were visited every day, Sundays
excepted. And yet this county is only one of 85 in that
THE YEAR OF JUBILEE 351
province, and that province is only one of 19, if the three
provinces of Manchuria be excluded.
Great things have been accomplished in the years now
past, but the task of reaching China's four hundred millions
is, alas, far from being completed. Vast areas have only
had an occasional visit from a messenger of the Cross, and
countless millions have not yet received an intelligent under-
standing of the love of God in Christ Jesus. If all the
Scriptures circulated in China from the commencement were
still in the people's hands, it would mean that only one in
every seven or eight persons had so much as a Gospel Portion.
The circulation of the Scriptures in China to-day is about
five milhon copies per annum, and yet at this encouraging
rate eighty years would be needed for every man, woman,
and child to secure a copy, while no less a sum than three
million pounds sterling would be required to present one
Gospel to every individual in China. Great as has been
God's blessing on past labours, the blessings vouchsafed
should but be an inspiration for greater things in the days
to come.
But as we turn from a consideration of the work to think
of the workers, different reflections fill heart and mind, for
those who have borne the burden and heat of the early days
have for the most part finished their course with joy, and
the responsibilities of continuing the work have fallen upon
other shoulders. Mr. Hudson Taylor, the honoured founder
of the Mission, after a long and arduous life, has been called
to his reward, and his mantle now rests upon his successor,
Mr. D. E. Hoste. Mr. Theodore Howard, Chairman of the
Mission's original Council and Home Director in Great
Britain since 1879, has but recently entered into his rest, to
be succeeded by the Rev. J. Stuart Holden in this important
office. Only three years ago, Mr. W. D. Rudland, the last
surviving member of the historic Lammermuir party, was
gathered Home to see the King. And still more recently,
Mr. J. J. Meadows, the senior member of the Mission, who
had been spared to give more than fifty- two years of service
to China, gladly responded to the call to see his Master face
to face.
352 THE FIFTH DECADE
In the Rev. J. W. and Mrs. Stevenson there remains to
the Mission the last Hnk with the Lammermuir days ; while
at home Mr. William Sharp is the only member who has
served continuously on the London Council since the early
seventies. One by one the links between the present and
the early days have become painfully fewer. Most of those
who laid the foundations have finished their task, and the
duty of building thereon is now left to the younger generation.
To be the inheritors of high ideals and lofty traditions is a
great honour, but a solemn responsibility. On the human
side, that the Mission has become what it is is in large measure
due to the burning zeal, the strenuous and practical self-
denying toil, and the simple faith which characterized those
who laid the foundations. The solemn charge, therefore,
which comes to all who carry on this work, whether as
labourers at the front, or as helpers by prayers and gifts at
home, is to " guard that which is committed unto thee." ^
The problems of the present differ from those our fathers
faced, but they call for the same spirit of faith and consecra-
tion. Each age has its own peculiar tests of courage and
fortitude. When Mr. Taylor went to China, the Taiping
Rebellion, in which some twenty million Chinese lost their
lives, appeared as though it would make work impossible.
As the Mission now celebrates its Jubilee, the war in Europe
appears to threaten the very existence of Foreign Missions,
and in a peculiarly painful way affects the C.I.M. In the
ranks of the Mission are representatives of most of the
leading nations of Europe, so that nationally the Mission is
divided, yet supernationally, since we are all one in Christ
Jesus, the Mission is gloriously united.
Behind all the dread events of these dark days we
recognize the spiritual powers of Good and Evil striving for
the mastery, and it is the duty of all who are named by the
Name of Christ to seek by prayer and the manifestation of
the spirit of their Master, to defeat the powers of darkness,
which are seeking to hinder the spread of the Gospel and
the coming of His Kingdom. As in the days of Noah, we
see the earth " filled with violence." But the promise of
^ Revised margin, " Greek — Guard the deposit."
THE YEAR OF JUBILEE 353
God is that " the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of
the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea/*
Thus saith the Lord, if ye can break My covenant of the
DAY AND My covenant OF THE NIGHT, SO THAT THERE SHALL NOT BE
DAY AND NIGHT IN THEIR SEASON ; THEN MAY ALSO My COVENANT
BE BROKEN.
Then let the light of each day and the darkness of each
night remind us of that Covenant — until God's great Day
shall dawn and the shadows flee away.
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous things :
And blessed be His Glorious Name for ever ;
And let the whole earth be filled with His Glory.
Amen, and Amen.
2A
APPENDICES
I. The Associate Missions.
II. Chronological Summary.
III. Statistics.
INDEX
355
We daily look to God to bless our efforts to the salvation of souls : we
feel that His Spirit alone can change the heart : we desire to give to Him
all the glory of any good we may be used in effecting. But at the same
time we believe that God employs human instrumentalities and hum.an
sympathies in carrying on His work ; and that that work not only may
be, but often is, advanced or retarded by the judicious or injudicious use
of the means which He has placed at our disposal. No mightier power
has been entrusted to us than that true sympathy which identifies itself
with those whom it seeks to benefit ; it carries the heart captive. And to
get close access to the hearts of the people is our great aim : to win their
confidence and love is our daily object.
J. Hudson Taylor.
The Lord's questions to Peter (Lovest thou Me ?) about love to Himself
are each at once followed by a command to help the souls of others. From
this, two reflections naturally arise. . . .
First, the great qualification for work for Christ in the hearts of others
is love to Christ in the worker's heart, real, personal love in the conscious
individual experience.
Then, secondly, where that love is present, kindled by His free and
wonderful love to us, there we may expect as the sure sequel that some
work for Him in the hearts of others will be put by Him into our hands.
Bishop Handley Moule.
APPENDIX I
THE ASSOCIATE MISSIONS
The growth of the C.I.M. as an Interdenominational Mission
into an International organization has been briefly related in
the text. Such a development was unsought and unexpected
and could not have been engineered. It can only be explained
by the spiritual and supernational nature of the Christian Church.
It affords a striking testimony, especially in these days of war,
to the strength of that tie which unites all true behevers. Such
direct association with the members of other nations in the work
of the Gospel is no small privilege. Its educational value alone,
in widening the sympathies and in toning down national self-
complacency and prejudice, is inestimable. For twenty-five
years, in an ever-enlarging sphere, there has been a mutually
happy and helpful fellowship, and though war has unhappily
divided the nations of Europe, yet with chastened hearts the
bond of love in Christ still holds and will, we trust, survive all the
tests of time, for " love endureth all things."
To-day there are 282 missionaries connected with eleven
Associate Missions within the C.I.M. circle. The Home depart-
ment of each is practically autonomous, and the financial
arrangements are independent. All, however, have accepted
the Mission's Principles and Practice and co-operate as necessary
with the Home and China headquarters of the Mission generally.
To supply fuller information concerning these Associate Missions
than could be given in the body of the book the following
outlines are appended.
The Swedish Mission in China
In the year 1882 Mr. Josef Holmgren, a young Christian
gentleman from the south of Sweden, was present at one of the
357
358 APPENDIX I
C.I.M. Prayer Meetings in Pyrland Road. So much impressed
was he by the spirit of faith and prayer, and by a subsequent
conversation with Mr. Hudson Taylor, that on his return home
he sought to awaken interest in the evangehzation of China.
At the same time Mr. Erik Folke, a young student in Upsala,
became conscious of God's call for service in China. His first
interest had been aroused during the visit of a Norwegian
missionary, Mr. L. O. Skrefsrud, and his desire to learn more
led him to visit London. His intercourse with Missions and
missionaries in London, and especially with the C.LM., deepened
his desire, but no channel to China seemed open. He had
declined several proposals to enter other foreign fields, and at
that time Sweden had no Missions in China. WHien present at
a Bible Reading in Mrs. Boardman's house in Drayton Park, a
letter was read promising the outfit and travelling expenses of
a young man, and Mrs. Baxter turned to him with the words,
" Now your way to China is open."
Shortly after Mr. Folke's arrival in China in March 1887,
when the C.LM. welcomed him to the Home in Shanghai and to
the Training Home in Anking, three friends at home united,
with Mr. Josef Holmgren as leader, to form a Committee with
the object of supporting Mr. Folke in the field and providing
him with colleagues. Three co-workers were sent out during
the next two years. The missionary interest in Sweden received
a new impulse through the visit of Mr. Hudson Taylor accom-
panied by Dr. Howard Taylor, at the invitation of this Committee,
in November 1889. Guided by Mr. Taylor's counsel they were
led to adopt the Principles and Practice of the C.LM. as the
basis of this new Mission. In China Mr. Folke had also entered
into an agreement with Mr. J. W. Stevenson as to a plan of
co-operation. The prefecture of Puchow was decided upon as
the field for this Swedish Mission, and Mr. Folke was enabled to
gain a foothold in the city of Yiinchengchen, since which time that
city has been the headquarters of the Swedish Mission in China.
This field was soon enlarged so as to include 38 Hsien districts
in the provinces of Shansi, Shensi, and Honan.
This Mission has received many proofs of the Lord's never-
faihng faithfulness. In 1902 a telegram was received reporting
the gift of seven thousand Kronor, shortly after a special prayer
meeting in which expenses connected with the return of a large
number of workers to the field after the Boxer crisis were
laid before the Lord. In 1912, 28,000 Kronor were received
for the building of a Home for the children of missionaries
who were unable to return to the field after the revolution.
22,000 Kronor were given at another time towards the famine
APPENDIX I 359
relief work after the Boxer crisis, and in 1909 a Committee
was formed by Swedes residing in California, known as the
Swedish Mission in China's California Committee, as a branch
organization.
At the close of 191 3 the Mission had twelve central stations,
54 missionaries, 937 Church members, and 12 schools with one
seminary for evangelists.
The Swedish Holiness Union
The Swedish Holiness Union was the outcome of a revival
which broke forth in 1885 in connection with some meetings
held by Mr. Hedin of Torp. In the summer of 1887 the first
general Conference was held in Mr. Hedin's large barn at Torp,
which is an estate in the province of Nerke ; from which time a
yearly Conference or Camp Meeting has been held. The result
was that evangelists were sent forth to needy places in Sweden,
Finland, and Denmark. The Rev. C. J. A. Kihlstedt resigned
his living in the Lutheran Church in 1899 to train these
evangelists.
At one of these yearly Conferences at Torp there was present
a young student named Emmanuel Olsson, who had given up
his studies at the University to devote himself to evangelistic
work, his purpose being to work among the Mohammedans in
North Africa. The Committee had already accepted him for
this service when he heard in Germany of Mr. Hudson Taylor's
appeal " To Every Creature." The result was a prayerful
reconsideration of the whole question, and the Committee
decided to take up work in China. Emmanuel Olsson and
Nathaniel Carlesson sailed as the first two workers towards the
close of 1890, the first of these having a short missionary career
of a Httle more than three years, but marked with almost apostolic
devotion and fervour. Other workers followed, until in 1894,
during Mr. Taylor's visit to Shansi, it seemed expedient to
appoint this Mission a special sphere of its own. During Mr.
Taylor's visit to Sweden in 1896 this was definitely arranged,
and the Swedish Holiness Union was made responsible for the
field between the two arms of the Great Wall.
In 1900 all the workers on the field, ten in number, were
martyred at Sopingfu on June 29, the work being reopened in
1902, when Mr. "August Karlsson, who had been absent on
furlough during the Boxer crisis, returned to China with three
new workers. The Mission has now thirty-two missionaries on
the field, with seven central stations, there being between four
36o APPENDIX I
and five hundred communicants connected with these centres.
This Mission, Hke many others, has had many signal instances
of the Lord's help in the matter of funds.
The Scandinavian Alliance Mission
The Scandinavian Alliance Mission, as already mentioned in
Chapter XXIX., was the outcome of Mr. Franson's work among
the Scandinavian Churches of the United States. The story
of the going forth of the first two bands of fifty workers has
also been told elsewhere. This Alliance has missionary work in
Japan, Mongolia, India, Africa, and South America, as well as
in China, and its object is to encourage Churches or in-
dividuals to send out their own workers ; each Church or group
of Christians constituting a small missionary society within the
Alliance.
Of the workers who proceeded to China, some were at first
designated to the north, others were located in Chekiang, while
the ladies settled at Takutang in Kiangsi. During Mr. Hudson
Taylor's visit to Shensi in 1894 a special sphere in that province
and Eastern Kansu was appointed to this Mission, and the
following year, after conference with Mr. Franson during his
visit to China, the workers in the south were moved north.
This Mission, which has 97 workers in the foreign field, has
56 associated with the CT.M. in China.
The Swedish Alliance Mission
Until 1913 this Mission was known under the name of the
Scandinavian China Alliance, it being the Swedish branch of
that Mission which had another centre in Chicago. About forty
missionaries sailed from Sweden during 1892 to 1893, through
the influence of Mr. Franson, many of whom laid down their
lives during 1900. Subsequent to the Boxer persecutions, a
Committee was formed in Jonkoping, as the Swedish branch of
the Scandinavian China Alliance, to assist the missionaries who
were spared to reopen their work. This branch was financially
and administratively independent of the American section. To
avoid confusion, the name was changed, as mentioned above,
at the Annual Meeting of 191 3. The Mission has work in Central
India and South Africa as well as in North China, there being
34 missionaries in all, of whom 16 are in China, associated with
the C.I.M. The income of this Mission has increased from
APPENDIX I 361
30,000 Kronor in 1905 to 85,000 Kronor in 1913. Its official organ
is the Trosvittnet, which has a circulation of 9000 copies. Their
sphere is north of the Great Wall in Shansi, which sphere was
worked by the Christian Missionary Alliance prior to the Boxer
outbreak.
The Norwegian Mission in China
This Mission was commenced in 1889, during Mr. Hudson
Taylor's visit to Christiania, its Home Leader being in the early
years the late Captain Guldberg. Through the failure of health
of the workers in the field, the Mission practically ceased, but
in 1905, during Mr. Sloan's visit to Norway, the work was re-
organized. In 1910 a new Council was formed, with Mr. Thorston
Berger as Director, there being ten workers in the field, and its
sphere being known as the North-West Mountain District in
Shansi.
The Norwegian Alliance Mission
The Norwegian Alliance Mission, known in full as " The
Norwegian Branch of the Scandinavian Alliance Mission " (Det
Norske Missionsforbund), is a Union consisting of 39 Free
Mission Assemblies having work in China, Africa, and among
the Lapps and Fishermen at home. The China section was
started in 1899 through the instrumentality of Mr. Franson,
when Mr. Hagkvist visited the various Assemblies and aroused
their interest in the work in China. On February 28, 1900,
Messrs. K. Vatsaas and J. A. Christensen sailed from Christiania
for China. After several changes this Mission eventually pur-
chased property at Lungchtichai in Shensi, which has been its
centre ever since.
The German China Alliance
In the large manufacturing town of Barmen the Lord had
laid it upon the heart of Mr. Polnick to commence some special
evangeHstic work among a most needy people, for the valley of
the Wupper was and is known as the Muckertal (valley of the
bigots). Much blessing followed this effort, and when Mr.
Fianson visited Barmen a gracious revival broke out, when
hundreds were saved. Mr. Hudson Taylor's appeal " To Every
Creature," pubHshed at this time, kindled the flame of missionary
362 APPENDIX I
zeal in the hearts of many of those concerned with this movement,
and jewels, watches, and even wedding rings were given to God
for His work abroad. A small Committee was formed, which
put itself into communication with the Mission in London. The
result was that the first workers went forth in 1890, so that the
German China Alliance celebrates its twenty-five years of service
while the China Inland Mission celebrates its Jubilee.
In April 1893 Mr. Hudson Ta57lor, accompanied by Dr.
Baedeker, visited Barmen, from which visit much blessing fol-
lov/ed. At this time a separate district was allotted to this Asso-
ciate Mission in the province of Chekiang, with Chuchow as its
centre. In 1897 Mr. Taylor and others again visited Barmen, when
a fuller understanding as to the relationship of the Mission was
arrived at. In 1899, owing to the growth of the work, another
district in the south-east of Kiangsi was allotted to this Mission,
so that at the commencement of 1914 this Associate Mission had
five stations in Chekiang and five in Kiangsi, with 37 workers
in all. There are 57 out-stations, 1369 Church members, with
963 inquirers.
The Liebenzell Mission
The origin of the Liebenzell Mission may be traced back to
the year 1891, when Pastor Coerper read the German translation
of Mr. Hudson Taylor's book, A Retrospect. In the following
year he delivered a lecture on Mr. Hudson Taylor's life and work
at the Student Volunteer Conference at Frankfurt, the result of
which lecture was that Mr. Hudson Taylor was invited to come
to a similar Conference in 1893. Other meetings were addressed
by Mr. Taylor at this time. Subsequently, after Pastor Coerper
had accepted a call as Pastor at Essen in Rhenish Prussia, he
again invited Mr. Hudson Taylor, who came in 1896 after visiting
the Christian Alliance Conference at Blankenburg (the German
Keswick).
Although Pastor Coerper earnestly desired, with others, to
devote himself to the service of China, his way was closed at this
time, but under other auspices a beginning was made in Kiel at
the end of 1897. In 1899 it was found necessary to make a
change both in the administration and location of this work,
and on November 13 of that year Pastor Coerper accepted the
position of leadership, with Hamburg as his centre. This work
may be regarded as the offspring of the Gemeinschaft, or Fellow-
ship Movement in Germany on the one hand, and the stimulus
received by Mr. Hudson Taylor's work and visits on the other.
APPENDIX I 363
In April 1902 a house was offered at Liebenzell in the Black
Forest, which has ever since been the headquarters of the Mission.
Much blessing has followed the work thus begun, and on July 8,
1905, the foundation stone of a new large building was laid,
which building was dedicated to the service of God in April
1907.
In the earlier years of this Movement this work was an integral
part of the Mission, but in April 1906, when Mr. D. E. Hoste and
Mr. W. B. Sloan were present at the Council Meetings of this
German organization, it was decided that this German branch
of the C.I.M. should in the future be known as " The Liebenzell
Mission associated with the China Inland Mission." The province
of Hunan was determined upon as the special sphere of this
Mission's operations, and in this province God has given great
blessing to the work, for by April 1914 there were sixty mission-
aries in the field in connection with the Liebenzell Mission. It
may be mentioned that the Liebenzell Mission also carries on
work in the South Sea Islands, where it has nineteen missionaries.
The German Women's Missionary Union
Through the instrumentality of the Rev. E. Lohmann, and
the independent working of God's Spirit in the hearts of a number
of earnest Christian women, the German Women's Missionary
Union was brought into being in the year 1899. Four ladies,
under the leadership of Frau von Bethmann-Hollweg in Berhn,
devoted themselves to calling the women of Germany together
for prayer. Prayer Circles were formed throughout the country
on interdenominational lines under the name of the Deutsche
Frauen Missions Bund. Unexpectedly these Prayer Circles led
to the contribution of money, and as there had been no thought
of forming a new Missionary Society, those who offered them-
selves were sent forth under already existing organizations. In
1904 the first worker went out to Ceylon ; then another in
connection with the Liebenzell Mission in China, and others
elsewhere. Through a friendship with Miss H. E. Soltau the
Committee was drawn into touch with the C.I.M. in London,
and in 1908 the first sister in association with the C.I.M. was
sent forth. Altogether there are fifteen workers in the Foreign
Field in connection with this Missionary Union, of which
number four are associated with the C.I.M. At home there are
more than 6000 members of the Prayer Circles who, by means
of a little monthly paper, are brought into close touch with
the work abroad.
364 APPENDIX I
The Friedenshort Deaconess Mission
Sister Eva von Tiele Winckler, the leader of a Deaconess
organization in the south-east of Germany near the Russian
frontier, had, some years ago, the needs of the Hill Tribes of
Western China laid upon her heart. In 1909 she met Mrs.
Howard Taylor at St. Chrischona, from which time a more
definite sense of responsibility for the Aborigines of South- West
China possessed her. In January 1912 one of the Deaconess
workers, on her death-bed, left her little possessions, amounting
to £350, for the carrying on of this work, and ere she died sought
God's blessing on a beloved fellow-deaconess for this purpose.
In March 1911 the whole subject was personally laid before the
London Council, with the result that a band of four Deaconesses
sailed for China on August 2, 1912, after a period of training
in London. These workers are now located at Anping in
Kweichow.
The Finnish Free Church
The Free Church of Finland was organized as a religious body
in 1889, the membership being a little over one thousand. At
one of the meetings held at Ekenas during the first year the
missionary obligation was discussed, and a sum of 1300 Marks
(£52) was contributed. It was proposed that their Mission work
should be associated with the C.I.M., and Miss Agnes Meijer was
set apart as the first missionary at the First Annual Conference of
the Free Church held at Abo in 1890. In January 1891 Miss
Meijer sailed for China, to be followed in 1892 by Misses Vera
Hammaren and Vilhelmina Arpiainen. The Russian Govern-
ment, however, in consequence of the murder of two Swedish
missionaries in Hupeh, declined to give these workers passports
for the interior.
In 1896 Miss Meijer was summoned home to Finland to
undertake Deputation work, and in consequence of her meetings
a generous response in money was received and three new workers
were appointed to China. In October 1897 Miss Meijer died
after an operation. In 1898 the Russian Government con-
sented to give passports, and Yungsin in Kiangsi was eventually
chosen as their special field, but not before Miss Arpiainen had
made two attempts to settle in Hunan, which had at first been
suggested as the field. Other workers followed, and in 1907
Yungfenghsien was opened as a second Finnish Free Church
station.
APPENDIX I 365
The work in Finland has been visited three or four times by
Mr. W. B. Sloan, once by Mr. Wood in 1900, and by Mr. William
Taylor, Superintendent of North and North-East Kiangsi, in 1912.
The St. Chrischona Pilgrim Mission
This Mission was founded in 1840 by Mr. C. F. Spittler, who
twent37-five years before had been used to give the first impetus
to the founding of the Basel Missionary Society. While desirous
not to hinder other existing work, he felt there was scope for
those who had not had the advantages of the six years' term of
study prescribed by the Missionary Institute at Basel. Having
no pecuniary resources whatever, and being wishful not to trench
upon the finances needed elsewhere, he commenced the work in
the utmost poverty and simplicity, which fact has given to the
whole Mission its peculiar character.
St. Chrischona is the name of an old church, built on the top
of a wooded hill about six miles from Basel, which in olden times
was a place of pilgrimage. Sadly devastated during the Thirty
Years' War, it had lain almost a ruin for more than two centuries.
Here it was that the Pilgrim Mission (so called from Spittler's
intense desire that its members should cultivate the pilgrim's
spirit) was begun. The work developed slowly but surely, and
numbers of young men were sent out to work in Palestine, Eg3^pt,
Nubia, Abyssinia, and other lands. At the present time about
nine hundred Chrischona brethren are at work in different
countries and under many Missionary Societies. A band of
about eighty evangelists are supported and directed by the
Pilgrim Mission itself.
In 1868 the Rev. C. H. Rappard was called to take charge
of the Pilgrim Mission, and for forty-one years he and Mrs.
Rappard devoted their lives and gifts to the furtherance of the
cause of Christ. In 1895 the St. Chrischona branch of the
C.I.M. was formed by the sending out of their first missionary to
China, Mr. G. Domay, and from the first there has been thorough
sympathy between our friends at St. Chrischona and the C.I.M.
The little staff of the St. Chrischona band now numbers four
men and seven women, while others hope to enter the field in
the near future. It should be stated that these workers
from St. Chrischona become members of the C.I.M. and not
associates.
After the Home-Call of the beloved Inspector, C. H. Rappard,
in 1909, his son-in-law, Inspector Fred. Veiel, was called to the
office of Director of the Pilgrim Mission.
APPENDIX II
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY
Introductory
1832 May 21.
1850
1853 Sept. 19.
1854 March i.
1855-73
1857
1858 January.
i860 Jan. 16.
1862-
1862
July.
-76
Jan. 8.
1865 April 12.
"
April 26.
1865 June 25.
>>
Oct. 3.
It
October.
Dec. 30.
1866 March 12,
Birth of James Hudson Taylor at Bamsley,
Yorkshire.
Taiping Rebellion commences.
J. Hudson Taylor sails for China.
J. Hudson Taylor lands in Shanghai,
Great Mohammedan Rebellion in Yunnan.
J. Hudson Taylor resigns from Chinese Evan-
gehzation Society.
Commences independent work in Chekiang.
J. Hudson Taylor marries Miss Maria Dyer.
J. Hudson Taylor writes home appealing for
helpers.
J. Hudson Taylor sails for England.
Great Mohammedan Rebellion in North- West.
Mr. and Mrs. Meadows sail; reach Shanghai
May 24.
Messrs. George Crombie and Stephen Barchet
sail (free passage).
Miss Skinner (Mrs. Crombie) sails.
The First Decade
J. Hudson Taylor yields himself to God at
Brighton as leader. Mission organized under
name of China Inland Mission.
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Stevenson and Mr. George
Stott sail.
First edition of China's Spiritual Need and Claims
pubhshed.
(Saturday) Set aside as Day of Fasting and Prayer.
No. I Occasional Papers published.
366
APPENDIX II
367
1866 May.
,, May 26.
September
Nov, 27.
1867 January.
,, May.
.. July.
August.
„ Sept. 18.
,, November.
1868 March.
June.
1869
>>
1870
1871
1872
Aug. 22-23
Nov. 18.
January.
July 20.
September,
December.
June.
July 23.
Sept. 26.
Nov. 28.
March.
,, September,
„ Oct. 4.
„ Oct, 9.
1873
Feb, 23.
December.
1874 May.
„ June.
„ July 25.
„ July 27.
Oct. 14.
Oct, 23.
November.
Fenghwa opened by Mr. Crombie.
Lammermuir Party sail (Shanghai, Sept. 30),
Shaohingfu opened by Mr, J, W. Stevenson,
Lammermuir Party settle at Hangchow.
Riot at Siaoshan,
Death of Mr. Sell of Lammermuir Party from
smallpox,
Messrs, Meadows and Jackson open Taichowfu.
Death of Mr, and Mrs. Tajdor's eldest child
Gracie.
Mr. George Duncan settles in Drum Tower,
Nanking,
Mr. Stott opens Wenchow,
Riot at Pluchowfu,
Soochow occupied.
Mr, and Mrs, Taylor reach Yangchow.
Premises rented in Chinkiang.
Yangchow Riot,
Mr, Taylor reinstated in Yangchow.
Messrs. Meadows and Williamson open Anking.
Premises rented at Tsingkiangpu by Mr, Duncan.
Riot at Anking. (Reinstated Feb. 23, 1870.)
Mr, Cardwell settles at Kiukiang,
Tientsin Massacre.
Mrs. Hudson Taylor dies.
J, Hudson Taylor sails for England.
J. Hudson Taylor married to Miss Faulding,
Mr. W. T. Berger retires from Direction of Home
Department,
Messrs, R, H, Hill and Henry Soitau become
Honorary Secretaries.
First Meeting of London Council.
Mr. and Mrs. Hudson Taylor sail for China,
Shanghai opened as C,I,M. Business Centre.
Mr. George Duncan dies.
Gift of ;^8oo for Unoccupied Provinces.
J. Hudson Taylor falls and injures spine.
Mr, Judd settles in Wuchang as base for Far West.
Miss Blatchley dies.
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Stevenson and family reach
England.
Mr. Meadows takes charge of Shaohingfu and
continues here for forty years.
Mr. and Mrs. Hudson Taylor reach England.
Mrs. Rudland dies.
Messrs. Meadows and Douthwaite rioted at
Huchowfu. Riots also near Kiukiang and at
Soochow.
368
APPENDIX II
1875 January.
Feb. 21.
March.
„ April 3.
„ April 6. J
June.
, July.
, Oct. 5.
1876 February.
April.
May.
August.
Sept. 7.
Sept. 13.
Oct. 17.
Nov. 8.
December.
1877 Jan. 2.
Feb. 10.
Mar. 3.
The Second Decade
Appeal for eighteen missionaries pubhshed.
Margary murdered in Yunnan.
Last number of Occasional Papers pubhshed.
Henry Taylor starts first journey into Honan.
Kaifengfu reached in December during second
journey.
W. Stevenson and H. Soltau sail for Burma.
Bhamo reached October 3. Building site
obtained January 1876. Ere house ready,
Dr. and Mrs. Harvey and Adams arrive.
C. H. Judd pays first visit to Hunan. Rents
premises Yochow.
Mr. and Mrs. B. Broomhall go to Pyrland Road.
China's Millions first issued.
Mr. Theodore Howard appointed Chairman of
London Council.
Draft of Principles and Practice submitted.
Dr. and Mrs. Harvey sail to start Bhamo Medical
Mission.
First convert baptized in Honan.
Annual Meetings first held in London.
Bailer and King start for Shensi. Back Wuchang
October.
Hudson Taylor and large party of ladies sail.
Arrive Shanghai October 22.
Chefoo Convention signed. (Ratified May 6,
1886.)
James and Turner start for Shansi. Border
crossed November 15.
Easton and Parker start for Kansu. Border
crossed December.
Messrs. King, Budd, Easton, and Parker leave for
Shensi and Kansu.
Sianfu reached December 21.
Kansu border crossed December 29.
Cameron and Nicoll start for Ichang for Szechwan.
Captain Yii staits work over Kiangsi Border.
Judd and Broumton start for Kweichow via
Hunan.
Cross Border February 3.
J. M'Carthy leaves Chinkiang to cross China.
Bhamo reached August 26.
Turner and James start second journey to Shansi.
Cameron, Nicoll, and M'Carthy rioted at Ichang.
C. H. Judd at Chungking.
Oct. 23.
1879 Feb. 5.
„ Feb. 10.
„ May 8.
,, November.
1880 January.
APPENDIX II 369
1877 May I. J. M'Carthy reaches Chungking and rents premises.
,, May 10-22. General Missionary Conference at Shanghai.
July. G. Clarke, E. Fishe, and R. J. Landale enter
Kweichow.
,, Sept. 6. Edward Fishe dies at Kweiyang.
,, Nov. 28. Turner and James leave Taiyuanfu for the coast.
Nov. 30. Dr. Timothy Richard reaches Taiyuanfu.
1878 Messrs. David Hill, Turner, and Whiting reach
Shansi with rehef funds.
Mrs. Hudson Taylor and party reach Taiyuanfu.
Mr. B. Broomhail appointed General Secretary.
Mr. Theodore Howard appointed Home Director.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Coulthard reach
Chefoo. Sanatorium, etc., decided upon.
Mr. and Mrs. G. King settle at Hanchungfu,
Shensi.
Mr. and Mrs. G. Clarke and Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll
reach Chungking.
February. Mr. and Mrs. G. Clarke settle at Kweiyang.
Feb. 19. Mrs. Wm. M'Carthy and Miss Kidd, with escort,
start for Kweichow via Hunan.
March i. Misses Wilson and Faussett start for Shensi.
April 7. Dr. and Mrs. Schofield and Mr. R. J. Landale sail
for China.
August. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Coulthard made first journey
along Kwangsin River.
Oct. 18. Dorward starts for Hunan.
Nov. 29. Stevenson and Soltau start first journey across
China, west to east.
1 88 1 January. Mr. and Mrs. G. Parker and Miss Wilson settle at
Tsinchow, Kansu.
,, March. Mr. and Mrs. Broumton, Miss Kerr, etc., start for
Kweichow via Hunan.
,, Mr. W. L. Elliston commences Chefoo School.
„ June 7. Mr. and Mrs. G. Clarke settle at Tahfu, Yunnan.
,, November. Appeal for the Seventy.
,, Dec. 24. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hunt settle at Runingfu.
1882 January. Dorward rents premises at Hungkiang, Hunan.
Held till December 17, 1883.
„ April. Dr. Douthwaite starts his work at Chefoo.
The Third Decade
1885 Feb. 5. Sailing of the Cambridge Seven.
1886 March. Rev. J. W. Stevenson appointed Deputy Director
in China.
,, August 5. Pastor Hsi set apart.
„ November First Meeting of China Council.
2B
370
APPENDIX II
1887 Jan. -Dec.
,, September.
1888 July.
„ Sept. 25.
1889 June.
,. July.
„ September.
,, October.
H it
,, November.
1890 January.
„ Feb. 18.
March.
,, April 29.
,, May 7-20.
,, May 21.
„ June.
„ August.
,, Nov. 20.
1 89 1 January.
1893
Sailing of The Hundred.
Inglesby House and site of new London Head-
quarters bought.
Mr. Taylor's first visit to North America.
Departure of first North Amierican C.I.M. party.
London Ladies' Council formed.
Mr. Taylor's second visit to North America.
Mr. Berger by generous gift founds Superannuation
Fund.
Scottish Auxihary Council formed.
Mr. Taylor issues " To Every Creature."
Mr. Taylor visits Sweden and Norway.
Miss Soltau takes over Women's Department,
London.
New C.I.M. premises at Shanghai occupied.
Date of Mr. G. Soltau 's letter from Austraha.
Rev. Charles H. Parsons, first member from
Australasia, arrives at Shanghai.
General Missionary Conference, Shanghai.
Formation of Australasian Council authorized by
cable.
Formation of German China Alliance.
Mr. Taylor's first visit to Australia.
Sailing of first Australasian C.I.M. party.
Sailing of first Scandinavian China Alliance Party.
Mr. Frost appointed Home Director in North
America.
16
595
March.
April.
April 17.
May.
August I.
Oct. 18.
1896 June 15.
Summer.
»»
July.
18
I?
97 September
98 Nov. 4.
00 July-Nov.
>oi March.
June 8.
The Fourth Decade
Mr. B. Broomhall retires from Secretaryship.
Opening of New Offices on Newington Green.
Treaty of Shimonoseki closes Chino-Japanese War.
Beginning of Szechwan riots.
Kucheng Massacre.
Rev. W. W. Cassels consecrated first Bishop of
western China.
Foundation Stone of new C.I.M. Chef 00 Schools
laid.
Miss Jacobsen settles in Hunan village.
Mr. and Mrs. Webb settle at Panghai among Black
Miao.
Deeds of House at Changteh, Hunan, obtained.
Murder of M:
Boxer Crisis.
Mr. D. E. Hoste appointed Acting General
Director.
Dr. Keller settles in Changsha, Hunan.
APPENDIX II
371
1901. September Boxer Peace Protocol signed.
1902 January.
1903 Jan. I.
„ Jan. 31.
Chinese Court returned to Peking.
Messrs. Bruce and Lowis murdered at Shenchow,
Hunan.
Mr. D. E. Hoste appointed General Director.
Mr. W. B. Sloan appointed Assistant Home
Director for Great Britain.
1905 June 3.
„ September.
1906 May 30.
igo8 Nov. 14
and 15.
191 1 Oct. 9.
Oct. 22.
1912 Feb. 12.
1913 April 27.
,, May 7.
1914 August I.
,, September.
The Fifth Decade
Mr. Hudson Taylor died.
Abolition of old Educational System.
Important Anti-Opium Debate in Parliament.
Large Ingathering among Aborigines from this
year.
Urumchi made Headquarters by Mr. George
Hunter.
Death of Emperor Kwang Hsii and Empress
Dowager Tsu Hsi.
Outbreak of Revolution.
Murder of Mrs. Beckman, Mr. Vatne, and six
children at Sianfu.
Abdication of Manchu Dynasty.
Day of Prayer appointed by Chinese Government.
Total Cessation of Indo-Chinese Opium Trade
announced in Parliament.
Commencement of Great European War.
Rev. J. Stuart Holden appointed Home Director
in Great Britain.
372
APPENDIX III
§
l-H
«
t—(
<«J
>—-i
X
n
u
Q
S
^
H
o
W
^
P
fe
CAI
>
a.
fe
<
■ u
•^ £ S
Tf ro lo M
.«c3s
VO C^ CM t^
r>-
CN. M >0 t^
|i =
h" C^oo" o"
«^|
M lO
■\ -v
•ise
00 CM H
a.ns.
O CO t^
c^U
M CO O
^^w
M
^
• o
s =«
•a S i;
as o 1-
"rt.S a
O (M OS
flusU
rooo O
Uffi
.
M
o -yi
VD
t^ -r}- to ro
■~ <u
CO
CO O CM O
•J'^
S
M vo 00 O
M
13 tr
S «
.S^
00
»o Oi 00 T^
rt ^
CM
Tj- Tj- M lO
£?^
H T^ (^
OU
«
•o
O O O 01
i
0-.
M T^ in t^
o
M m
W
J2
1>> ro fO rh
1
O CO O OS
U
1
CM t^ CM
. i
00
'5^ CO H o
3.2
CO
T^ N CM o
O rt
M lO M
M
w
in
c
CO
O M O l^
'S
M
CO CM O CM
rt
M CM CM
»
I-l
ecade
:ade .
ecade
ade .
cu
Q
^
econ
hird
ourt
ifth
1
fo
c/) H fe to
c/:
Q
w
H
I— I
u
o
M ^N CM o
O
T*- CM Tt- Th
H M M H
M
CM O 00 0\
rj- 01 C^ O
VO 00_^ tH rf
rt- O' CO H
O ^ O M
CO CM M
M
8
n!?
"-43
o
CM^
6
o3
fl
o
a
0)
rrt
1
1
.
-(->
pC
Vh
n1
03
o
CO
13
o
;z;<
O
APPENDIX III
373
1
VO
o
NO
ID
On
■<^
■<»■ NO
•JC3 \ Suipaoajj 1
S^ ON
ON
JU
it
'f^N
S
S" ?J>
JO saoanog wv uiojj auioDuj |
ro
^
n
1
(^ M
-%
00
^
NO
ON
^
^
On 0
d 2
lO
CD
•S32nj3>j uinido puE
**
'sauTJSuadsiQ 's[Biidsoi^i
a J;;
-*
ro
^
^
NO NO
X t--
Ov
00
On
~
CO
NO
t-^
On 0
,^
f^
f^
On
OD
^
N
lO
0 PI
•siidn^i
oo
m'
n
o
?!
^
1
•■^
I'*
"*•
"'
in in
01
^
ON
On
■^
0
ON
On *^
-o
•SIOOqDS
(N
y
ja
^
^
O
f^
NO
r^
lO
m
PI in
m
bf)
'-3
•siidnj
^
VO
ON
ON
s
On
^'
^ 1
^
(><
M
ro
«
•sjooqDS
t>.
0
0
«.
0 fO
inese
tribu-
ons
ring
ear.
riing.
o
-^
^^^-^ m
•S3q3jni{3 pasiuBSjQ
^
0
t^
^
t
NO
NO
00
NO
NO
PI m
px t-»
o>
^
13 .-•
•juamaDuauimoD
luojj pazudBg
V?
^„
o"
NO
no"
^
in p-
in 6
a u
(N
w
IN
n
m
•j-eaA snoiA3jd
0
0
o
?(
tv
ON
NO
NO t-.
ui pazudng
(N
N
c?
in 0
«
o
in
n
-1-
§-^
•aj^uiajj
■*
CO
m cjN
oU)
c^
On
11
M M
Et
0
m
t~.
c^
Efe
t^
•^ p^
•3I«IM
■<*-
M-
f
Tj-
cj.S
Ov
H
M
m'
2"
NO
Ei"
M P(
m
„
(S
^
in
M y.
•saadpjj 3S3uiq3 pj^duf^^
?;
^
\n
^
r^
0
1~^
t--
8 §•
S
•uauio^ sjqia
0
^
'h
B-
?
I
CI
PI
On 00
•sjsdas';^ pdeq^
1
1
t~-
<N
^8
m
<N
>n
O O
D
'•0J3 'sjna^aodio^
<N
N
S
'S
«
N
S' ^
S
>
a\
r^
OO
f^
0
NO
in O
•sjaqDBax poqas
^
ro
.n
M
^
-a
•sjaqDTjajjj 'issy
VO
^
^
2i
lo
■!^ in
NO NO
pS
•SJOjsCfj pauiBpjQ
OO
s
^
i?
«
^2
c3
8
I^ 5
•(sai^toossv
c^
\n
^
00
ID
00
On
0
NO ro
•ppui) S3ATM Jiaqi
CO
00
o>
On
^
8
?
B" ^
puB S3Uv;uoissii\r
t^
m
0
ir>
in
f^
^
00
^ ^
rt-C
•spdi;q3
oo
o>
ON
^
?
?
s-
« On
"
"
"
"
►H W
o
On
O
00
0
S I
•suouT3is-l"0
■K.
^
t^
H,
y^S
.o
1
„
„
„
^
•suonBjg
^
y
J5
«
c*
«
S
s s
•I ^iBnuBf
1
1
O
On
On
On
ON
IH
On S>
INDEX
Abeel (Rev. D.), arrival in China, 5
Aborigines —
work amongst, 237-241, 274-281
baptismal names, 280
rules of Church membership, 280
medical work amongst, 330
Adam (J. R.)—
with Mr. Windsor, recovers Fleming's
body, 240
his work amongst the tribes, 274
Adams (Mr.) —
joins the Mission, 103
goes to Bhamo, 106
Aim of the Mission, 89-90
Alabaster (Consul Charles), commenda-
tion of the Mission, 155
Alcock (Sir Rutherford), 55
and Yangchow Riot, 59
Aldersey (Miss), first single lady to
enter China proper, 122
Alexander (B.), 234
Ambler (P. V.), volunteers for Shansi,
243
American Centre of C.I.M. —
chapter on, 183-190
beginning of work, 184
first workers, 186
provisional Council, 187
permanent Covmcil, 188
" American Lammermuir party,"
187
American Methodist Episcopal Mission,
in Kiukiang, 65
American Presbyterian Mission —
Rev. A. Whiting's work and death,
109
Mr. Leaman starts for Chengtu, 113
two lady workers at Sayow, 123
in Hunan, 232
Amoy opened to foreign trade, 6
Amundsen (Mr.), at Tatsienlu, 284
Anderson (Dr. and Mrs. J. A.), 298
Anhwei —
attempt to open province, 64
a preaching tour in, 337-340
Anjen, opened, 180
Anking —
reached by C.I.M. Missionaries, 64
premises secured and riot, 65
Training Home appointed, 172
Anshunfu, premises rented, 274
Anti-opium campaign in China, 273
Apostle Thomas, reported as first
missionary to China, 4
Appeal for the Eighteen, the, 99-104
for " The Thousand," 193
of General Missionary Conference in
1877, 191
Arrow, seizure of the lorcha, 15
Associate Missions —
division of territory, 210
sketch of, 357-365
Atuntsu, last Tibetan town in Yunnan,
113
Australasia —
chapter on, 199-205
C.I.M. Council formed, 201
first party of workers, 201
Australia's " Hundred," 202
China's Millions, first issue, 203
Bagnall (B.)—
appointed Superintendent, 171
superintends work in Chihli, 211
Ballard (T. J. and Mrs.), of H.I.M.
Customs, 133
Bailer (F. W.), sails for China, 89
visits Shensi, 106, no
escorts Mrs. Taylor to Shansi, 125
escorts to Kweichow, 130
appointed Superintendent, 171
helps at Chefoo, 226
his literary work, 300
Baptisms —
rapid progress, 268
statistics, 350
Baptist Missionary Magazine, Hudson
Taylor's articles, 23
Baptist Missionary Society, 145, 270,
296
Baring-Gould (Rev. B.), C.M.S. Secre-
tary, 208
375
376
INDEX
Barnardo (Dr. Thomas), 29
acts as Referee, 81
Barrie (Dr.), 298
Basis of the C.I.M., 30
Batang —
first visited, 113
work begun, 284
Bausum (Miss), sails for China, 38
Beauchamp (Montagu) —
joins Cambridge Band, 164
as pioneer-evangelist, 168
accompanies Mr. Taylor to Australia,
201
experience in mass movements, 268
Beckman (Mrs.), matryred, 323
Bell (Miss Mary), sails for China, 38
Benson (Archbishop), 208
Berger (W. T.), 24
cares for work at home, 25, 28
his home, 39
his letter to the Times, 62
retirement, 80
his letters re finance, 83-85
special gifts, 175, 220
Bhamo —
opened, 103
site secured, 106
Medical Mission started, 142
Bible Christian Mission, three pioneer
workers, 174
Bible Training Institutes, 294-296
a day's programme, 334-335
Bird (Rev. Alfred), first Honorary
Secretary of C.I.M. in Melbourne,
199-201
Blatchley (Miss E.)—
sails for China, 38
goes to Soochow, 54
in Yangchow, 57
as unofficial Secretary, 86
death of, 93
Dr. Grattan Guinness* tribute to, 94
Blind, work amongst the, 293
Bolton (H. E.), school work at Panghai,
239
Borden (Wm.), Memorial Hospital, 299
Botham (Mr.), Assistant Superin-
tendent in Shensi and Kansu,
211
Bowyer (Miss) (Mrs. Bailer) —
sails for China, 38
settles in Chinkiang, 76
ill with smallpox, 87
returns to China, 89
Boxer Crisis, the, 242 et seq.
Bridgman (Dr. E. C), arrival in China, 5
Brighton, Hudson Taylor's decision and
prayer at, 25
British and Foreign Bible Society, 64,
218, 288
Broomhall (B. and Mrs.) —
move to Pyrland Road, 116
appointed General Secretary, 117
Mrs. Broomhall's call to care for Mr.
Taylor's children, 125
a widow's letter, 174
Council minutes re, 222
Broomhall, Hudson, 167
Broomhall (Miss) (Mrs. Hoste), 167
Broumton (J. F.) —
joins Mission, 104
starts for Kweichow, 107
travels through Hunan into Kwei-
chow, III
first Protestant Missionary to settle
in Kweichow, 237
as Treasurer, 316
Broumton (Mrs.), wrecked in Hunan,
130
Brown (G. Graham), 221
Bruce (J. R.), murdered in Hunan,
234, 254
Budd (C.)—
joins Mission, 104
goes to Shensi, 106
reaches Yennanfu in Shensi, no
Burdon (Rev. J. S.), 14
Burns (Rev. William), 14, 15
Burrows Memorial Bible Training
Institute, 295
Byron (Miss), 179
Cable (Miss M.), 343
" Cambridge Seven, The," 163-169
Cameron (Dr. J.) —
joins Mission, 104
starts for Ichang, 107
brief survey of jovurneys, 113
his death, 204
visits Tibetan border, 282
Canadian Methodist Mission rioted, 216
Cardwell (J. E. and Mrs.), 52
itinerations in Kiangsi, 66, 76, 89
superintends Kweiki, 139
Carr (Dr. J. C), 297
Carr (Dr. Sidney H.), 297
Cassels (W. W.)—
meets (London Council, 164
consecrated Bishop, 168, 208
takes charge of Paoning work, 207
report re mass movements, 268
his report on revival, 271
Challice (John), appointed on Home
Council, 81
Chang Chih-tung (Viceroy), 245
Changsha —
opened, 182
premises bought, 234
hospital work, 298
Chao (H.E.), 285, 286
INDEX
377
Chapman (Miss), 250
Chapman (Rev. Samuel), his death,
202
Chapman (Robert) acts as Referee, 81
Chefoo Convention signed, 105
its terms, etc., 106
Chefoo, Mr. Taylor's first visit to, 133
Chefoo Schools, 134, 225-229
Chekiang, divisions of, 90
martyrs in, 250
Chenchowfu opened, 298
Chenery (Chas.), accidentally drowned,
240
Chenghsien, occupied, 66
Chengtu —
first visited, 113
riot, 216
Chengtu Bible Training School, 295
Chihli, martyrs in, 250
China Council, first meeting, 172
" China Inland Mission," adoption of
the name, 31
date of organization, 99
becomes international, 183
China Medical Missionary Association
Reception at Peking, 342
China's Millions, first issue, 118
China's Spiritual Need and Claims,
publication of, 27
Chinese Evangelization Society, 6, 11,
16, 94
Chinese Government, proposed regula-
tions for control of Missions, 73
Chinese Missionary Society formed, 88
Chinese students in Japan, 264
Chinese Turkestan, 287
Chinkiang —
premises rented, 55
its strategic importance, 63
new mission premises occupied, 66
centre for w^omen's work, 75
Chino- Japanese War, 182, 216
Christian and Missionary Alliance, 211
in Hunan, 232
Chronological Summary, 366-371
Ch'U (Mr.), ordained Pastor of Taning
and Sichow, 168
Chungking, premises rented, 112
Church Missionary Society, 207, 208,
217
Church of England Zenana Missionary
Society, 217
Clark (Dr. W. T.), 297, 298
Clarke (George) —
joins Mission, 104
starts for Kweichow, 107
travels into Kweichow, iii
starts for Kwangsi, 1 11- 112
goes to Yimnan, 131
death of Mrs. Clarke, 131
Clarke (Samuel) —
sails for China, 125
at Panghai, 238
at Kweiyang, 237
Clinton (Mr.), 232
Coates (Mr. and Mrs.), at Weiku, 285
Coborn Road, 29, 34, 39
Compensation, Mission's policy, 60,
255-257
Continent, first C.I.M. meetings on the,
133
Conway (H. S.), 329
Cooper (E. J.), 226
Cooper (W.) —
appointed superintendent, 171
as Travelling Director and death of,
250
Cordon (Henry and Mrs.), in Soochow,
54
Coulthard (J. J.)—
sails for China, 133
accompanies Mr. Taylor, 139, 210
Council (Home) formed in London,
81
for North America, 188
for Australasia, 200
Cox (Dr.), 298
Cox (Rev. Josiah), first Protestant
missionary to enter Hunan, 146
Crickmay (Miss), accompanies Mrs.
Taylor to Shansi, 125
Crombie (G. and Mrs.) —
settled at Fenghwa, 44
open Ninghaihsien, 53
leave for furlough, 71
resume work at Fenghwa and
Ninghai, 87
Cumberland Presbyterian Mission, in
Hunan, 232
Date of Mission Year changed, 99
Dawo opened, 285
Denominational districts arranged, 209
Deputy Director in China appointed,
171
Desgraz (Miss) (Mrs. Tomalin) —
sails for China, 38
goes to Yangchow, 55
settles in Chinkiang, 76
Dick (Mr.), appointed colleague of
Dorward, 150
Dividing the Field, 206-212
Doherty (Mr.), 294
Dorward (Adam) —
sails for China, 125
the man and his work, 146-152
appointed Superintendent, 171
his death, 204, 231
Douthwaite (Dr. A. W.), 135, 137, 138,
139, 142, 297, 305
378
INDEX
Dress, regulation of Mission regarding
Chinese, 31
Dreyer (F. C.), his Bible School work,
295
Duff (George H.), 181, 187
Duncan (George) —
sails for China, 38, 50, 51
in Yangchow, 57
rents premises in Tsingkiangpu, 64
at Nanking and Anldng, 75, 76
leaves China, and dies, 87, 88
Dyer (Rev. Samuel), 16
his love for China, 98
a quotation, 214
Dyer (Miss Maria), married to Mr.
Taylor, 123
Early journeys of women, summary
of, 132
East India Company, 5
Easton (G. F.) —
joins Mission, 104
goes to Kansu, 107, no
appointed Superintendent, 171, 211
" Ebenezer " and " Jehovah Jireh,"
adopted as mottoes of C.I.M.,
16
Edgar (Huston) —
describes journey to Batang, 282
reopens Tatsienlu, 284
Edicts, denimciatory, 244
Edkins (Dr.), 14
Educational developments in China,
263
for C.I.M. educational work, see
Schools and Bible Training In-
stitutes
Edwards (Dr. E. H.), 145, 296
Elliot (Dr.), reopens medical work at
Paoning, 297
Elliston (W. L.), commences school
work at Chefoo, 134
Emperor of China —
abdication, 244
death, 322
Empress Dowager, de facto ruler of
China, 244, 322
Entwistle, Mr. and Mrs., escape from
Liuanchow, 330
Evangelization of the World, The, publi-
cation of, etc., 166
Evangelization, the special aim of the
Mission, 89-91
Expansion during years 1888-1891, 203
Facts about Finance, 302-313
Falconer (Ion Keith), 145
Famine of 1877 and 1878, 109, 123
Fasting and prayer, institution of days
of, 34
Faulding (Miss) —
sails for China, 38
married to Mr. Taylor, 79
goes to Shansi, etc. See Mrs. Hudson
Taylor
Faussett (Miss), starts for Hanchungfu,
127
Fay (Miss Lydia), first single lady sent
to China from America, 123
Fenghwa occupied by Mr. and Mrs.
Crombie, 44
Finance, 31, 36, 37, 39, 42, 47, 51 ; some
early figures, 83-85; in 1874, 92;
in 1878, 119; in relation to candi-
dates, 120; timely gifts, 121, 125 ;
for the seventy, 158-160; for the
hundred, 174; in North America,
184, 189 ; dvuring Boxer crisis, 249 ;
chapter on, 302-313
Finnish Free Church, 364
Fish (Dr. and Mrs.) —
amongst the tribes, 278, 298
first medical journey, 330-333
Fishe (Charles T.), 29
sails for China, 67
acts as secretary in China, 71
at Yangchow, 75
Fishe (Edward), 29
visits Sienkii, 72
starts for Kweichow, 107
travels into Kweichow, in
starts for Kwangsi, death, 111-112
Fitzsimons (Miss Cassie), saUs for
China, 187
Fleming (William S.), first C.I.M.
martyr, 202, 239
Foreign Missionary Society, 285
Foreign works translated into Chinese,
263
Franco- Prussian War, 69
Franson (Rev. F.), 194
his letter, 196
visits China, 210
French (Miss E.), 343
French (Miss F. L.), 343
Friedenshort Deaconess Mission, 364
Frost (Henry W.)—
meets Mr. Taylor, 183
personal experiences, 188
appointed Secretary and Treasurer ;
and, later, Home Director, 188, 189
in Chefoo, 307
Froyland (Dr.), killed at Laohokow, 330
Gamble (W.), entertains Lammermuir
party, 40
Gardiner (Miss J. D.), sails for China,
187
Garland (Miss S. J.), her Chinese
Braille system, 294
INDEX
379
German China Alliance Mission —
formed, 194
increase of sphere, 211
short account of, 361
German Women's Missionary Union,
363
Gibson (Miss) —
appointed to Chiichowfu, 177
settles at Hokow, 179
Girls' School work, beginning of, 75
Girls' School in China, first, 122
Goforth (Rev. J.), his revival work,
269
Goodall (T. W.), 224
Gough (Rev. F. F.), of the C.M.S., 22
Gowman (C. G. and Mrs.), 278
Grainger (A.), his Bible School work,
295, 334
Granville (Lord), urges Mission to
abandon Yangchow, 75
Gray (Miss), accompanies Mr. Taylor in
Kiangsi, 178
Green (Mr.), Pioneer American Presby-
terian Missionary in Hangchow, 42
Green (C. H. and Mrs.), 250
Gregg (Miss Jessie), 250
her special evangelistic missions, 343-
344
Guinness (Dr. Grattan) —
Mr. Taylor visits his theological class,
29
acts as Referee for Mission, 81
his tribute to Miss Blatchley, 94
Guinness (Dr. Whitfield), 297
Gutzlaff (Dr. Karl), 5, 10, 122
Hall (William), appointed on Home
Council, 81
Hall (J. C), besieged in Siningfu, 218
Hampson (Mr. and Mrs.), 234
work amongst scholars, 334
Hanchxmgfu opened, no, 127
Han En-show, a Hunan official's con-
verted son, 233
Hangchow —
as a centre of operations, 30, 42, 43
Boarding School started, 48
dispensary work, 48
Church membership in 1868, 53
Chinese Missionary Society formed,
88
Boys' School transferred to Chin-
kiang, 88
Girls' School transferred to Shao-
hingfu, 88
Bible Training School, 294
Haniin Library burned, 246
Hannington (Bishop), 145
Hardman (M.), 316
Hart (Dr.), 217
Harvey (T. P.)—
sails for China, 67
itinerates in North Kiangsu, 76
takes a medical course, 88, 141
goes to Bhamo, 106
Hayward (J. N.), 317
Healing the sick, 141-145, 296-298
Helmer (F. F. and Mrs.), appointed to
Toronto, 190
Helmer (J. S. and Mrs.), their ministry
in Toronto, 189, 308
death of Mrs. Helmer, 189
Henrietta Bird Memorial Hospital, 297
Hewitt (Dr. J. W.), 250
Hill (Rev. David), in Shansi, 109
Hill (R. H.), appointed Honorary Secre-
tary with Henry Soltau, 81
Hokow, Mr. Taylor's first visit, 139
Holden (Rev. J. Stuart), appointed
Home Director, 351
Holliday (Miss), 224
Holmgren (Mr.), Secretary of Swedish
Mission in China, 194
Home Department —
in Great Britain, 79-85, 116-121, 220-
224, 314
in North America, 183-190
in Australasia, 199-205
Honan —
commencement of itinerant work,
131
first workers compelled to retire, 132
Honanfu, visited by Henry Taylor, 102
Hongkong, its cession to England, 6
Home (Miss), travels with Mrs. Taylor
to Shansi, 125
Home (W. S.), 181—
sails for China, 187
forward movement, 243
his Bible School work, 295
Horsburgh (Rev. J. Hey wood), leads a
band of workers to China, 207
Hoste (D. E.)—
one of Cambridge band, 164
in Shansi, Australia, and Honan,
168, 211
appointed Acting General Director,
168-169, 256
during Boxer crisis, 247, 258
appointed General Director, 264
in Liebenzell, 363
Howard (Theodore) —
appointed on Home Coimcil, 81
becomes Chairman of Council, 118
becomes Home Director, 118, 223
death, 351
Howell (George), 317
Hoyte (Dr. S.), 297
Hsi (Pastor), 108, 167—
Mr. Taylor visits his home, 211
38o
INDEX
Hsi (Mrs.), 343
Hsieh (Evangelist), his revival work,
272
Hsii Pao-san (General), 62
Hunan —
ladies travel through, 130
pioneer work in, 146-152
C.I.M. work commenced, 146
walled cities of, 152
riots, 233
the opening of, 230-236
Hundred —
prayer for the, 172
an analysis of, 175
Hungtung Bible Training Institute, 295
Himnex (W. J.), sails for China, 133
Hunt (Henry)—
marries Miss Smalley, 131
sails for China, 133
Hunter, M.A. (Rev. George), 209
his work in Hunan, 231
his death, 233
Hunter (G. W.)—
begins work in Chinese Turkestan,
288
Dr. Morrison's tribute, 290
Hwangyen occupied, 66
Hwochow opened, 168, 343
Income. See Finance
Independent Church Movement, 325
Institutional work, 291-301
Irvin (Miss Grace), sails for China, 187
lyang opened, 180
Jackson (J. A.), sails for China, 38 ;
goes to Shaohingfu, 44 ; robbed at
Taichowfu, 49 ; visits Wenchow,
49 ; opens Hwangyen, 66 ; itiner-
ates in Chekiang, 77
Jacobsen (Miss), 231
James (F.) —
joins Mission, 104
goes to Shansi, 107, 108
James (Mrs.), travels inland, 126
Jaochow —
opened, 243
Hospital built, 298
" Jehovah Jireh " and " Ebenezer,"
adoption as mottoes of C.I.M., 16
Johanson (Mr.), at Tatsienlu, 284
Johnson (Mr.), agent of B. and F.E.S.,
murdered, 64
Jones (John and Mrs.), 15, 16, 39
Journeys, summary of early, 114, 115,
132
Judd (C. H. and Mrs.), on their way
to China, 52 ; take charge at Chin-
kiang, 75 ; retiurn to China in 1873,
89; visits Hankow and Wuchang,
92; settles in Wuchang, 92 ; enters
Hunan, 102; journey to Kweichow,
107, III ; settles at Chefoo, 134
Judd, Jun. (C. H.), volunteers for
Shansi, 243
Judd (Dr. F. H.), 228
opens Jaochow, 243
joined by Dr. Dansey Smith, 298
Kaifeng —
visited by Henry Taylor, 102
the last capital opened, 131
medical work commenced, 297
Kampmann (F.), opens Paoking, 234
Kan River, work on, 182
Kanchow opened, 182
Kang Hsi, death of, 5
K'ang Yii-wei, 244
Kansu —
entered, 107
Mohammedan Rebellion, 217
Keller (Dr. F. A.)—
in Himan, 233, 298
his Bible Conferences, 235
Kelly (Dr.), 299
Kerr (Miss), wrecked in Hunan, 130
Kian opened, 182
Kiaochow seized by Germany, 243
Kidd (Miss), sets out for Kweichow,
129
King (George) —
joins Mission, 104
visits Shensi, 106
marries Miss Emily Snow, 126
death of Mrs. King, 128
King, jr. (Dr. George), medical work
amongst Moslems, 298
King (W. Y. and Mrs.), appointed to
Philadelphia, 190
Kingtzekwan \'isited, no
Kinhwafu —
premises rented, 53
Dr. Douthwaite rents a house, 137
Kiukiang opened, 65
Kitchen (Dr.), letter re funds, 308
Kitchen (Philip), appointed Treasurer
in Australia, 201
Knight (W. Percy), his Bible Class
work, 295
Kreyer (Mr.), Pioneer American Baptist
Missionary in Hangchow, 42
Kublai Khan, founder of Mongol
Dynasty, 4
Kwangchow-wan, taken possession of
by France, 243
Kwangfeng opened, 180
Kwangsin River, the, 176-182
first conference, 180
first Christian Chiirch, 138
Kweichow entered, 107, iii
INDEX
381
Kweiki —
Mr. Taylor's first visit, 139
baptism of first convert, 178
Lachlan (Mrs.), 321. See Miss Macintosh
Lady missionaries, first to travel in-
land, 126
Lammermuir Party, the, 34
sets sail, 38
arrival at Shanghai, 39
crew subscribe to Mission, 42
more fully inaugurates Mission, 99
Lanchi, work commenced, 71
Lanchowfu reached, no
premises secured, 182
Landale (R. J.)—
first sails for China, 104
journey to Kweichow, 107, in
retiurns to China, 143
Lawrence (Rev. A.), of C.M.S., 295
Lawson (James), 181
sails for China, 187
Laymen as missionaries, the Rev. Henry
Venn's declaration, 24
Letters to China, cost of, in 1854, 12
Lewis (Rev. W. G.), of Bayswater, 23
Li (Evangelist), 233
Liabilities and income in 1874, 92
Liebenzell Mission, 211
takes over Changsha, 235
short account of, 362
Li Himg-chang (H.E.) —
and the Chefoo Convention, 105
his influence in famine relief, 124
ejected from Foreign Office, 244
memorializes Empress Dowager, 245
signs protocol, 259
his death, 260
Lin (Commissioner), his burning of
opium chests, 6
Litang first visited, 113
Littler (Miss), settles at Changshan,
179
Liu Kuen-yi (Viceroy), 245
suppresses proclamation, 250
Lockhart (Dr.)—
Hudson Taylor's introduction to, 13
begins work at Macao, 141
London Missionary Society —
in Malay Peninsula, under title of
Ultra Gangees Mission, 5
at Chinkiang, 55
in Hunan, 232
Lord (Mrs.), of Ningpo, 38
Los Angeles Bible House, 295
Lowis (R. H.), murdered in Hunan,
234
Lucas (Miss E. M.), sails for China, 187
Luho visited, 71
Lutley (Albert), his revival work, 269
Macao taken by Portuguese, 4
Macartney (Rev. H. B.), 199
Mackintosh (Miss) —
appointed to Chlichowfu, 177
to Kiangsi, 178
appointed to Yiishan, 179
See Mrs. Lachlan, 321
Magee (Bishop), 59
Mair (A.), preaching tour in Anhwei,
337-340
Marchbank (Miss), 180
Marches of the Mantze, 286
Marco Polo, 4
as Mandarin, 55
Margary (A. R.), murder of, 102
Markwick (Mr.), no
Martin (J. B.), 221
Martyn (Henry), 145
Martyrs of China —
their number, 246, 250
their letters, 251
names of, 253, 254
memorial services, 258
Mass movements and revival, 267-
273
Mathieson (J. E.), 174
McCarthy (Frank), 228
M'Carthy (John), 29 ; sails for China,
43 ; roughly handled at Huchowfu,
49 ; in charge at Ningpo, 64 ; takes
charge of Siaoshan, 71 ; visits
district of Hangchow, 72 ; goes to
Anking, 88, 107 ; journey across
China, 107 ; appointed Super-
intendent, 171 ; his deputation
work, 177; superintends Kwangsin
river district, 181
M'Carthy (Mrs. Wm.), sets out for
Kweichow. See Broumton, Mrs.,
129
M'Carthy (Wm. and Mrs.), sail for
China, 133
M'Farlane (Miss), settles at Yiishan, 179
M'llvaine (Mr.), of American Presby-
terian Mission, 124
M'Kenzie (Miss Rebecca), sails for
China, 187
M'Kie (G.), 250
M'Lean (Miss J.), sails for China, 38
M'Lean (Miss M.), sails for China, 43
Meadows (J. J.),
sailed for China, 22, 99 ; death of
first Mrs. Meadows, 35 ; in charge at
Ningpo, 43 ; visits Shaohingfu, 44 ;
robbed at Taichowfu, 49 ; rents
premises in Soochow, 54; opens
Anhwei, 64 ; first furlough, 75, 77 ;
his long ministry, 103 ; appointed
superintendent, 171 ; death of second
Mrs. Meadows, 204; his death, 351
382
INDEX
Medhurst (W. H.), British Consul at
Shanghai, 58
Medical Missions, in China, 6
Medical work —
at Hangchow, 48
beginnings of C.I.M., 141-145
continued, 296-299
Meikle (John), 181, 187
Mesny (General), iii
Metcalf (G. E.), 278
Miller (Alexander), his Bible School
work, 296
Milne (Dr. W.), 2, 5
Missionary Band : a Record of Con-
secration and an Appeal, 166
Missions in China at close of 1874, 95
Mohammedan RebelHon of 1873, 103
in Kansu, 217
Mohammedans, work for, 298, 301
Mongol Dynasty, fall of, 4
Monro (Miss Jeannie), sails for China,
187
Monte Cor vino (John de), his transla-
tion work, 4
Moody and Sankey's second Mission in
Great Britain, 163
Morrison (Dr. Robert), 5, 122, 141, 218
Morrison (Dr., Times Correspondent),
290
Morton (Rev. Lockhart), 199
Mottoes of C.I.M., " Ebenezer " and
" Jehovah Jireh," adopted, 16
Moule (Bishop G. E.), 42, 207
Moyes (Mr.), at Tatsieiilu, 284
Muir (J. R.)—
visits Batang, 285
his journeys in Tibetan territory, 286
Muir (Mrs.), first foreign woman to
visit Batang, 285
Mliller (George), acts as Referee, 81
Murray (Miss C. K.), accompanies Mr.
Taylor in Kiangsi, 178
Murray (Ebe), 228
Murray (Miss M.), accompanies Mr.
Taylor in Kiangsi, 178
Nanchangfu Bible Training School, 295
Nanking —
occupied, 45, 50
Missionary position in 1867 and 1912,
51
Treaty of, 6
Viceroy assassinated, 69
Napier (Lord), misunderstandings with
Chinese Government, 6
Neale (F. H.), as Secretary in Phil-
adelphia, 190
Nestorian Tablet, 4, no
Newell (Miss), first single lady to go to
the Far East, 122
I Newington Green, 220-224
Nicol (Mr. and Mrs.) —
sail for China, 38
occupies Siaoshan, 47
Nicoll (George) —
joins Mission, 104
starts for Ichang, 107
enters Szechwan, 113
settles in Chungking, 128
visits New Zealand, 201
Nicholls (Arthur G.), his work amongst
the tribes, 277
Nightingale (Florence), quotations
from, 20, 30
Ninghaihsien, opened, 53
Ningpo —
opened to Foreign Trade, 6
Hudson Taylor settles in, 15
base of operations, 30
baptisms to end of 1865, 34
Mr. Meadows in charge, 43
first Girls' School, 122
Norris (Herbert L.), his death, 204
North America. See America
Norwegian Alliance Mission, 361
Norwegian Mission in China, 193, 194,
211, 361
Oakeshott (Miss), 321
Gates (William), 221
Occasional Paper —
first issue, 36
last issue, 118
Official rank, demanded and obtained
for Roman Catholic Missionaries,
243
Ogden (Mr.), visits Batang, 285
Olsson (Emmanuel), 195
Opium Trade —
the first war, 6
British Government relinquish, 273
Organization and Expansion, 170-175
Orphan schools, 293
Orphanage fund. New York, 293
Orr Ewing (A.), 258
accompanies Mr. Taylor to Shansi,
167
as Superintendent, 181
Palmerston (Lord), 15
P'an (Evangelist), 238
Panghai, work begim among the Miao,
238
Paoning opened, 206
Bible Training Schools, 295
medical work begun, 297
Parker (George) —
joins Mission, 104
goes to Kansu, 107, no, 128
enters Sinkiang, 288
INDEX
383
Parker (Dr. Peter), medical pioneer, 6,
141
Parker (Dr.), 15
leaves China, 16
Parker (Miss S. C), sails for China, 187
Parsons (Rev. Charles H.) —
sails for China, 199, 200
his Bible School work, 295
Pearse (E. S.)—
joins Mission, 104
as Superintendent, 181
Pearse (George), 25
Pennefather (Rev. William), acts as
Referee, 81
Philadelphia Mission Home secured
{see American Centre), 189
Pigott (T. W.), 133, 316
Pingyangfu —
first visited, 108
Hospital opened, 297
Pioneers —
journeys of early, 108- 115
women, 122-132
in Himan, 146
Polhill-Turner (Arthur), 164, 168
Polhill-Turner (Cecil)—
joins Cambridge Band, 164
rioted at Sungpan, 168
settles at Siningfu, 283
opens Tatsienlu, 284
Pollard (Rev. S.), his work amongst the
tribes, 276
Port Arthur, 243
Porteous (Gladstone and Mrs.), 278
Powell (Robert and Mrs.), at Panghai,
240
Prayer —
at Brighton, 25
day of prayer and fasting appointed,
34, 35
Saturday prayer meeting, 39, 93
appeal for, 100
for Seventy, 155
for Hundred, 173
week of, 273
day of, 273, 325
Also see Finances
Principles and Practice of the China
Inland Mission, first issue, n8
Printing Press presented to Mission, 34
Prisoners (Chinese), work amongst,
340-341
Proclamation by Governor of Shansi
re compensation, 258
Protestant and Roman Catholic Mis-
sions contrasted, 28
Protestant Episcopal Mission, 123
Provincial and National Assemblies,
their first meetings, 322
Puchowfu, first visited, 108
Pyrland Road, 11 6- 121
Racey (J. Hamilton), sails for China, 187
Radclifie (Reginald and Mrs.), accom-
pany Mr. Taylor to America, 184
Radford (Mr.), his death, 284
Radstock (Lord) —
acts as Referee, 81
a special gift, 119
Randle (Horace), 104, 139
Reed (Miss Mary), 200
Reid (Henry)—
in Yangchow, 57
moves to Tsingkiangpu, 64, 74, 77
retires, 88
Ren (Evangelist), 232
Ren (Pastor), his special ministry, 344-
345
Republic, establishment of, 324
Review of first six or seven years'
work, 77
Revolution, break out of, 322
Rhodes (F. H.), his literary work, 301
Ricci (Matteo), 4
Richard (Dr. Timothy), 109
his work for orphans, 124, 126
Ridley (H. F.), 129, 218
Riots in China, 56, 216-219, 283
Ririe (Mrs.), 217
Roman Catholic Missionaries —
their entry into China, 4
a period of persecution, 5
Protestant Missions contrasted, 28
Chinese superstitions, regarding, 68
killed in Hunan, 233
official rank demanded, 243
Rose (Miss), sails for China, 38
Rough (Mr.), 181
Rudland (W. D.), sails for China, 38;
goes to Shaohingfu, 44 ; visits
Duncan, 51 ; goes to Yangchow,
55 ; takes charge of Taichowfu, 72 ;
visits Taiping, 72 ; death of Mrs.
Rudland, 93 ; his literary work,
301 ; his death, 351
Rimingfu, Henry Hvmt's residence
there, 131
Russo-Japanese War, 264
St. Chrischona Pilgrim Mission, 365
Sama (Rev. O. N.), woimded at
Laohokow, 330
Saratsi, Foundling Home established,
293
Satow (Sir Ernest), 74
Saunders (A. R.), 62, 324
Scandinavian Alliance Mission, 195,
210, 270, 360
Schall (J. Adam von), 5
Schmidt (Mr.), occupies Soochow, 54
384
INDEX
Schofield (Dr. Harold), 142, 143, 144
School work —
beginning of Chefoo School, 135
beginning of school work generally,
292
See also Bible Training Institutes
Scottish Auxiliary Council, formed, 221
Scripture circulation, in year 1872, 8g
Scriptures, translation into Miao lan-
guage, 279
Selkirk (Thonaas), 202
Sell (J. R.), 38
dies of smallpox, 46
Seventy additional workers, Prayer
and Appeal for, 156
Seventy, the last party of the, 177
Shackleton (Dr.), 297
Shanghai —
opened to foreign trade, 6
opened as Mission's chief business
centre, 89, 316
Mission premises, 196-198
Shansi —
entered, 107, 108, 109
the famine, 109
first two stations, 143
martyrs in, 249
Sharp (William), 352
Shaohingfu —
occupied by Mr. and Mrs. J. W.
Stevenson, 44
first converts baptized, 53
Shekichen, troubles at, 329-330
Shelton (Dr.), visits Batang, 285
Shensi —
entered, 106
early work there, 109, no
entered by lady workers, 126
every city visited, 154
Sheoyang Mission, 145
Siaoshan occupied, 47
Siberian railway opened, 263
Sienkii, visited, 72
Sinchanghsien, occupied, 71
Sladen (Major), through Burma into
China, 153
Sloan (W. B.), 223, 363
Smith (Dr. and Mrs. Dansey), 298
Smith (Stanley), 164, 168
Snow (Miss Emiily), married to George
King, 126
Society for promoting Female Educa-
tion in China, India, and the
East, 122
Soldiers, work amongst, 62, 324
Soltau (George), 81, 200
Soltau (Miss H. E.), 221, 363
Soltau (Henry), 81
settles in Bhamo, 103, 104
crosses China from west to east, 153
Soltau (William), assists in work, 117
Somerset (Duke of), 59
Soochow —
occupied, 54
relinquished, 54
Sorensen (Mr.), goes to Tatsienlu, 284
Souter (Mr.), 181, 187
Southey (John) —
sails for China, 201, 202
appointed Home Director for
Australasia, 203
Soutter (Mr.), his grave, 284
Speer (Dr. Robert), 252
Stark (James), 320
Statistics —
of Roman Catholic and Protestant
Missions in 1866, 28
Missions in China at close of 1874, 95
of the C.I.M., 372-73
Stevens (Rev. Edwin), arrival in
China, 6
Stevenson (J. W. and Mrs.) —
sail for China, 29
occupy Shaohingfu, 44
he opens Chenghsien, 66
takes charge in Ningpo, 88
settles in Bhamo, 103
crosses China from west to east, 153
in Shansi, 167
appointed Deputy-Director in China,
171
referred to, 247, 352
Stock (Dr. Eugene) —
reference to Yangchow Riot, 59
re Cambridge Band, 165, 208
Stott (George)—
sails for China, 29
settled at Kongpu, 44
goes to Taichowfu and Wenchow, 49
his marriage, 50
his death, 204, 304
Stott (Mrs.), as Miss Ciggie, sails for
China, 67
Studd (C. T.), 164, 168
Summary —
of early journeys, 114, 115
of early journeys of women, 132
Sung (Mr.), ordained Pastor of Ping-
yangfu Church, 167
Superintendents appointed, 170
Superstitious fears of Chinese, 56, 68
Swedish Alliance Mission, 211, 271, 360
Swedish Holiness Union, 211, 271, 359
Swedish Mission in China, 193-194, 210,
357
Szechwan —
entered, 107
C.M.S. work, 207
Diocesan Theological College, 295
division (Ecclesiastical) of, 207
INDEX
385
Taichowfu —
visited, 49
Mr. Rudland takes charge, 72
its first out-stations, 87
medical work, 298
Taiping visited, 72
Taiping Rebellion, 13, 42, 136
Taiyang, first visited, 138
Taiyuanfu —
first visited, 108
Dr. Schofield's work, 143
Takutang, 139
Talifu—
occupied by George and Mrs. Clarke,
131
medical work, 298
Tatsienlu —
first visited, 113
opened, 284
Taylor (Miss Annie), enters Lhasa
territory, 284
Taylor (Ernest), 243, 258
Taylor (Henry), sails for China, 89 ;
first journey in Honan, 102
Taylor (Herbert), 167
Taylor (Dr. Howard) —
to America, 184
to the Continent, 194
attends Yuan Shih-kai's mother, 298 j
with Mrs. Taylor, accompanies Mr.
Hudson Taylor inland, 210
Mrs. Howard Taylor's literary work,
301
Taylor (James Hudson), missionary
argument, 5 ; his birth, 8 ; his
conversion, 8; his call, 9-1 1; sails
for China, 1 1 ; arrives in China,
12 ; introduction to Dr. Lockhart,
13; first missionary journey, 14;
adopts Chinese dress, 14; with
Rev. William Burns, 14 ; medical
instruments destroyed, 15 ; at
Ningpo, 15 ; leaves Chinese Evan-
gelization Society, 16 ; marries
Miss Maria Dyer, 16 ; his first
appeal, 17 ; first furlough, 17 ; re-
vision work, 22 ; his preparation,
23 ; prepares pamphlet, 23 ; at
Brighton, 25 ; at Perth, etc., 29 ; j
re fimds, 31; Chinese dress, 31; j
returns to China, 38; death of I
Gracie, 46; visits Soochow, 54; |
goes to Chinkiang, 54; to Yang- |
chow, 55; death of Mrs. Taylor, !
70 ; second visit to England, 77 ; !
marries Miss Paulding, 79 ; retire- '
ment of Mr. Berger, 81 ; return to
China in 1872, 82 ; the missionary
spirit, 82-83 ; visits Hankow, 92 ;
injures spine, 100; appeal for
eighteen, loi ; sails with party of
ladies in September 1876, 105 ;
Mrs. Taylor goes to Shansi, 125 ;
holds meetings on Continent, 133 ;
visits Chefoo, 133; visits Chekiang,
139 ; visits Kwangsin River, 139 ;
his medical work, 141 ; visits
Shansi, 167 ; visits nine provinces,
171 ; second journey down Kwang-
sin river, 178 ; visits North
America, 184 ; visits the Continent,
194 ; visits Australia, 201 ; long
inland journey, 210 ; visits home
of Pastor Hsi, 211 ; dies in Hunan,
236, 265 ; various, 247, 256 ; re
compensation, 257
Taylor (William), 181
Thompson (D. and Mrs.), in charge of
Chiichowfu, 177
Thompson (H. G.), marries Miss Dr.
D. M. Watney, 298
Thor (A. E.), 181
Thousand —
appeal for the, 193
the answer, 219
Tibet, first visited, 113
Tibetans, work amongst, 282-287
Tientsin —
Treaty of, 15, 28
massacre, 68
foreign concessions, 263
Times, The, anti-missionary article in
1868, 59
Tjader (C. H.), 258
Todd (James H.), Secretary in Mel-
bourne, 203
To Every Creature, Mr. Taylor's leaflet,
192
Tomalin (Edward), 226
Training Institutions appointed, 172
Treasurer's Department, Shanghai, 316-
319
Treaty of Nanking, 6
of Tientsin, 15, 28
Trench (Mr.), to Kweichow, 130
Tribes, among the, 237-241
Tsechow, first visited, 108
Tseng Kwo-chuan (H.E.), his influence,
124
Tsinchowfu, premises rented, in
Tsingkiangpu, occupied, 64
Tsingkihsien, first visited, 113
Tuan Fang (H.E.), 245-248
Tung (Farmer), 138
Turner (Miss E.), sails for China, 82
Turner (Miss Hattie), sails for China, 187
Turner (J. J.)—
joins Mission, 104
goes to Shansi, 107
his work for orphans, 124
2 C
386
INDEX
Urumchi, Mr. Hunter settles there,
288
Vale (J.), his literary work, 301
Valignani, his celebrated utterance, 4
Vatne (Mr.), martyred, 323
Venn (Rev. Henry), Secretary of C.M.S.,
24
on Annual Reports, 80
quotation from Life of, 164
Verbiest, 5
Wade (Sir Thomas), 102
Wang Chi-t'ai (Evangelist), 269
Wang (Evangelist), 283
Wang Lae-djun, 48, 71, 72, 88, 137
Warren (Consul-General), 248
Warren (W. H.), his Bible School work,
294
Waters (Curtis), 240, 279
Watney (Miss Dr. D. M.), 298
Watney (Miss Dr. L. E.), 298
Way (Miss), 250
Weatherley (Joseph), appointed on
Home Council, 81
Webb (Mr. and Mrs.), 237, 239
Webb (Miss), 178
Weihaiwei, 243
Wen chow —
occupied, 49
a typical Simday in, 1873, 86
Wesleyan Missionary Society, 109, 146
White Wolf, his depredations, 323, 329
Whiting (Rev. A.), 109
Whitridge (C. T.), Secretary at Mel-
bourne, 202
Wilder (Robert P.), at Niagara, 184
WilUams (Dr. S. Wells), 5
Williams (R.), at Panghai, 240
Williamson (J.) —
sails for China, 38
goes to Siaoshan, 48
Huchowfu, 48
in Kiangsu, 63
to Anhwei, 64
Pastor of Fenghwa, 71
Williamson (Miss), 224
Wilson (Dr. Millar), opens hospital at
Pingyangfu, 297
Wilson (Dr. WiUiam)—
joins the Mission, 145
use of native material, 296
among students, 299
Wilson (Miss), starts for Hanchungfu,
127
Windsor (T.), with Mr. Adam, re-
covers Fleming's body, 240
rents premises at Anshunfu, 274
Women's work —
beginning of, 75
pioneers, 122-132
number of women workers in China
in 1866, 123
first missionary ladies to travel in-
land, 126
first ladies to settle in Szechwan and
Kweichow, 129
some privations, 129
ladies travel through Hunan, 130
summary of early journeys of women,
132
in Kwangsin river district, 178
Bible School at Hwochow, 343
Wood (F. M.), 221, 223
Wuchang, premises rented, 92, 100
Wylie (Rev. J.), murdered, 216
Xavier (Francis), 4
Yachow, first visited, 113
Yangchow —
premises rented, 55
Mr. Taylor visits, 55
the riot, 56
contrasts, 62
riot threatened, 74
virged to abandon, 75
Training Home, 172
Yangkow, opened, 180
Yangtze Valley riots, 203
Yao (Dr.), 273
Yao (Evangelist), 231
Yennanfu, first visited, no
Yochow, house rented, 102
Yuan Shih-kai (H.E.), 244
elected President, 323
worships at Altar of Heaven, 326
welcomes medical missionary dele-
gates, 342
Yu-Hsien (H.E.), 246, 249
Yii Liang-shih, a zealous convert, 138
Yung Lu (H.E.), 246
Yunnan, early work there, 112
Yiishan, first house rented, 138
Yii Yuh - shan (Captain), a zealous
Buddhist converted, 137
THE END
Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh.
^
MAP OF CHINA.
Only Stations of the China Inland Mission are marked on this Map.
CHINA INLAND MISSION.
ENGLAND .
SCOTLAND .
SWITZERLAND
CANADA
UNITED STATES
AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND
TASMANIA .
HOME CENTRES.
EUROPE.
Newington Green, Mildmay, London, N.
121 Bath Street, Glasgow.
St. Chrischona, near Basel.
NORTH AMERICA.
507 Church Street, Toronto.
Mission Home, 235 School Lane, Germantown, Phil-
adelphia, Pa.
Offices and Book Room — Germantown, Philadelphia,
Pa.
AUSTRALASIA.
267 CoUins Street, Melbourne.
Bank of New Zealand Chambers, Cr. George and
Wynyard Streets, Sydney.
Zealandia Chambers, Dowling Street, Dunedin.
103 Macquarie Street, Hobart.
ASSOCIATE MISSIONS.
EUROPE.
SWEDEN . The Swedish Mission in China, Stockholm.
The Swedish Holiness Union, Torp, Klimla.
The Swedish Alliance Mission, Jonkoping.
NORWAY . . The Norwegian Mission in China, Randsfjord.
The Norwegian AlHance Mission (Det Norske Missions-
forbmid), Bernt Ankers Gate 4", Kristiania.
GERMANY . . The German China Alliance, Seifenstrasse 5, Barmen.
The Liebenzell Mission, Liebenzell, Wiirttemberg.
The German Women's Missionary Union (Deutscher
Frauen Missions Bund), Bibelhaus, Malche,
Bei Freienwalde a. O.
The Friedenshort Deaconess Mission, MiechowitZ,
Oberschlesien.
FINLAND . . The Free Church Mission, HantvSrkargatan i , Abo.
NORTH AMERICA.
UNITED STATES The Scandinavian Alliance Mission, 2814 McLean
Ave., Chicago, 111.
The Swedish Mission in China, Kingsbury, Ca5i=
fornia.
Donations and Correspondence should be addressed to
Secretary at any of the above addresses.
the
FOR ENGLAND OR AUSTRALASIA.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
/ bequeath to the China Ifiland Missiofi (Office, *Newington
Green, London, N.) the sum of ,
free of Legacy duty ; and I direct that this sum be paid to the Treasurer
for the time being of the said Mission^ whose receipt shall be a siifficient
discharge for the same.
* To be altered according to the country — England, or Australasia.
FOR NORTH AMERICA.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
/ give and bequeath u?ito the China Inland Mission (see note)
the sum of. dollars^ to be expended
for the appropriate objects of said Mission ; and I direct that the
release of the Home Director of said Mission shall be a sufficient
discharge for my executors in the premises.
FORM OF DEVISE.
/ give and devise unto the China Inland Mission (see note) all
that certain (here insert description of property) with the appurtenances
in fee simple^ for the use^ benefit and behalf of said Mission forever ;
and I direct that the release of the Home Director of said Mission
shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors in the premises.
NOTE.
In case the will is made out in the United States, the following
words need to be inserted : " having offices at Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania." In case the will is made out in Canada, the following words
need to be inserted : "having offices at Toronto, Ontario."
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS.
The registered Telegraphic Address of the China Inland Mission
at Philadelphia, Toronto, Melbourne, and at Shanghai, Hankow,
and Chefoo, is — INLAND. At all other Mission Stations in
China where there are Telegraph Offices, the Telegraphic Address
is— INLAND MISSION.
At London the Registered Address for Foreign telegrams is
LAMMERMUIR, but for Home telegrams is LAMMERMUIR,
HIBURY ; and at Glasgow— LAMMERMUIR.
2
Publications of the C.I.M.
Second Edition.
HUDSON TAYLOR IN EARLY YEARS.
THE GROWTH OF A SOUL.
By Dr. and Mrs. HOWARD TAYLOR.
Cloth Gilt, 7S. 6ca. post free.
A Presentation Edition on Oxford India Paper, bound in green paste
grain, gilt edges, round corners, and silk marker. lOs. 6d. net.
Postage extra.
PERSONAL NOTICE.
" It is a most fascinating book. The narrative is profoundly interesting and the
Hterary form admirable. Above all, the story will quicken the conscience, warm the
heart, and arouse the energies of the reader. God bless it richly to thousands." —
Eugene Stock.
Cheap Edition. 80,000 Copies Issued.
«-■ PASTOR HSI. ^^;
By Mrs. Howard Taylor.
A new and exceedingly cheap edition, unabridged, in an attractive
illustrated paper cover. 400 pages of letterpress.
Works by the late Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, M.R.C.S.
)% A RETROSPECT. j^t
>^^- NEW EDITION. ^''^^'
" It has a peculiar value as a testimony to the love and faithfulness of God, and
the joy of living in close communication with Him." — The Christian.
ll) UNION AND COMMUNION. ]l)
free. THOUGHTS ON THE SONG OF SOLOMON. f'''''
tt SEPARATION AND SERVICE. ^,^;
THOUGHTS ON NUMBERS VL AND VIL
tt A RIBBAND OF BLUE. t^;
AND OTHER BIBLE STUDIES.
China Inland Mission., Newington Green., London., N.j Philadelphia.,
Toronto., Melbourne, and Shattghai.
Morgan &r^ Scott, Ld., 12 Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G.
3
LARGE MAP OF CHINA.
3 ft. 7 in. by 2 ft. 11 in.
Mounted on Rollers, or to fold in Book Form.
Showing all Telegraph Stations, Railways, Treaty Ports,
Protestant Mission Stations,
Revised Postal Spelling employed. With complete Index to 7000 places.
21s. post free.
ATLAS OF CHINA & DEPENDENCIES.
23 Maps in 4 Colours. Full Opening, 13 in. by 17^ in.
Same Scale and Surveys as Map above, only Dependencies smaller,
10s. 6d. net. lis. post free.
The Royal Geographical Society s Journal says : "To all who are interested in
China . . . this Atlas cannot fail to be of the greatest value. ' '
SMALL MAP OF CHINA.
Entirely new work^ new spelling, etc.
Size 20 in. by 20 in. Mounted on Linen to fold.
Is. 6d. net.
HUDSON TAYLOR'S CHOICE
SAYINGS.
A Compilation from his Writings and Addresses.
Preface by D. E. HOSTE, General Director C.I.M.
Is. net. Is. 3d. post free.
' ' This book might well serve as a companion for devotional hours . .
adapted to all phases of the Christian experience." — The United Methodist.
AMONG THE TRIBES IN SOUTH-
WEST CHINA.
By SAMUEL R. CLARKE.
(For Thirty-three Years a Missionary in China.)
3s. 6d. post free.
" . . . It is also important from a practical missionary point of view, and shows
how easy it is by patience and kindness to extract permanent good results out of the
most unpromising material, such as these tribes present," — E. H. Parker, in Asiatic
Quarterly Review.
China Inland Mission^ Newington Green, Londoft, N.; Philadelphia,
Toronto, Melbourne, and Shanghai.
Morgan &^ Scott, Ld., 12 Paternoster Buildings, London, E.C.
4
Books by Marshall Broomhall, M.A.
ISLAM IN CHINA.
A NEGLECTED PROBLEM.
Large Royal Octavo, with 24 Full- Page Art Illustrations, zvith Rubbings from
Ancient Monuments, and Maps, etc.
CHEAP REISSUE, 2S. 6Cl. NET.
PRESS NOTICE.
' ' The subject is one of deep and permanent interest. There is something par-
ticularly fascinating in the story of Islam in China, and the broad outHnes of that
story are well drawn in Mr. Broomhall's book." — The Times.
Third Edition Revised.
FAITH AND FACTS.
As illustrated in the History of the China Inland Mission.
Is. net. Is. 3cl. po^t free,
PRESS NOTICE.
" The history of the China Inland Mission is one of the most striking evidences of
faith in God that can be found outside the Acts of the Apostles. We wonder if this
history of the C. I. M. is not a call to the Church to go back to first principles and to
rely upon the power of prayer. We commend this shilling book to the careful study
of every Christian." — The Methodist Times.
MARTYRED MISSIONARIES OF THE
C.I.M.
Completing 10,000.
2 Maps. 60 Portraits. 25 Illustrations.
' ' It stands altogether apart. Plain tales of heroism and self-sacrifice. " — The Spectator.
CHEAP REISSUE AT 1S. NET.
A Few Copies Left.
THE CHINESE EMPIRE.
A GENERAL AND MISSIONARY SURVEY.
7 s. Gd. net.
" There is no more compact source of reliable information upon China. "-
Bibhography of Uplift of China.
A Few Copies Left.
PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN.
Is. net.
" No story of the Spanish Main, or of Hawkins, or Drake, or Frobisher, is more
enthralUng. " — Life and Work.
China hiland Mission., Neiuington Green., Lo7idon., N. ; Philadelphia^
Toronto., Melboiir7te, and Shanghai.
Morgan 5^ Scott., Ld.., 12 Paternoster Buildings^ London^ E.C.
5
PORTRAIT OF J. HUDSON TAYLOR.
"XS, post free.
In 3 Colours on Art Paper mounted ready for Framing.
EVERLASTING PEARL.
ONE OF CHINA'S WOMEN.
By anna MAGDALENA JOHANNSEN.
Is. 6d. net.
The Rev. J. Stuart Holden says: — "Everlasting Pearl will take high rank
among the records of the power of the Gospel in the Mission Field. It is a fascinat-
ing story of the redemption from heathen darkness into a life of full and fruitful
service of one of China's women. "
CHINA AND THE GOSPEL.
An Illustrated Annual Report of the China Inland Mission.
Is. net ^ paper covers. 1s« 6cl. net, stiff boards.
H
CHINA'S MILLIONS.
fJ
The Organ of the China Inland Mission is published monthly.
It may be had direct from the Offices of the Mission at any of EngHsh-
speaking Home Centres, or through the Publishers.
The English Edition is published by Messrs. Morgan & Scott, Ld.
Price id. per month ; is. 6d. post free per annum.
The American Edition from Mission Offices. 50 cents per annum.
The Australasian Edition from M. & M. L, Hutchinson, Little
Collins Street, Melbourne, id. per month : is. 6d. post free per annum.
HOME CENTRES OF THE C.I.M.
London Newington Green.
Philadelphia, Pa. . . . 64 W. Chelten Avenue.
Toronto 507 Church Street.
Melbourne . . .267 Collins Street.
Date Due
W*-*"
10
iYlb'49
ij^gij
BW8226.B876 ^ _ ^
The jubilee story of the China Inland
Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library
1 1012 00045 4191
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11