be ST ke a LT ETE Cee eee Petter Sc aanima a trory newer e tees been neat eran Soneos aA PERE, Sass ea ; Z == : : : oes ose om os Sen etine nem asee =e A ei es Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/wwcasselstirstbi00broo W. W. CASSELS Photograph by Russell & Sons. Frontispiece. W. W. ee es FIRST BISHOP IN WESTERN CHINA ‘DILIGENT IN BUSINESS; FERVENT IN SPIRIT; SERVING THE LORD’ WITH PORTRAITS ILLUSTRATIONS & MAP By f vA MARSHALL BROOMHALL, M.A. EDITORIAL SECRETARY OF THE CHINA INLAND MISSION THE CHINA INLAND MISSION, LONDON PHILADELPHIA, TORONTO, MELBOURNE AND SHANGHAI. .. . apie AGENTS: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT ‘SOCIETY 4 BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON, E.C.4.. . . 1926 e Printed in Great Britain by R. & R. Crarx, Limiren, Ldindurgh. TO THE CHURCH IN CHINA THIS RECORD OF A STALWART PIONEER 1s DEDICATED Great is love, and a great good in every way ; for it alone maketh every burden light, and every rough place smooth. For it carries a burden without being burdened, and makes all that is bitter sweet and savoury. The noble love of Jesus spurs us on to do great things, and excites us always to long after that which is more perfect. Love feels no burden, thinks not of labours, would willingly do more than it can, complains not of impossibility, because it thinks that it may and can do all things. It is equal, therefore, to anything ; and it performs and bringeth many things to pass, where he that loves not faints and fails.—Imitatio Christi. TRIBUTES To print all the tributes of love and reverence paid to Bishop Cassels is impossible ; to make a selection is full of difficulty, but the following appreciations from His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, four China Bishops and two Chinese Clergy may be allowed to stand as representative of the many, and in place of a Foreword. From His GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY The death of Bishop Cassels removes from among us one of the very foremost Missionaries of our time. The work which he has done is not of a perishable sort, and it must have affected the life of a very large number of people. He rests from his labours and his works do follow him. I have known him ever since his consecration some thirty years ago, and I have always esteemed my interviews with him as privileges of a very sacred kind. .. . His work has been of the simple straightforward kind, with the bringing of the Gospel of Christ to the heathen folk who are ready to listen. I have again and again been impressed by his quiet unassuming perseverance and by the power he has shown of what missionary work in its most apostolic form can be. FRoM THE RicHuHT Rev. BisHop F. R. GRAVES We met for the first time in 1897. . . . The things which impressed me most about him were his deep serious- ness, the depth and reality of his personal religious life, his Vil Vill BISHOP CASSELS loyalty to his Church, and his unfailing good judgment and common sense. He seemed to me almost too serious, there was always a sense of strain and tension about him. One used to wish that he could relax a little. JI used to think that this tension and reserve were due partly to natural disposition, but more largely to the weight of work and responsibility which always rested upon him, and to the fact that he was so far away in Szechwan. Naturally, the way in which I knew him best was by working with him in the General Synod and in Committees. He never spoke much or often, but what he said carried weight always. We all felt that we wished that he were nearer so that we could consult him oftener on difficult problems of mission work. And one always recognised that his wisdom in counsel and his remarkable admintstra- tion of his diocese were founded on a deep personal religion. He seemed a saintly man, not of the weak sort that ts so often taken for saintliness, but of the silent and strong kind that does God’s work in this world and makes no show. FROM THE RIGHT REv. BisHop HERBERT J. MOLONY The Bishop’s life was an inspiration to many and to me. It was the farewell meeting of the ‘ Cambridge Seven’ at Cambridge in 1885, and particularly Stanley Smith’s address that evening, that was God’s call to me to the foreign field, and I remember after the meeting walking back to College with Mr. Cassels. His long pertod of heroic work in the far West has given one of tts high points to the history of missionary enterprise, and his wise and patient meeting of problems and difficulties has always been a great help and a steadying and inspiring example to us all. TRIBUTES 1X FRoM THE RicHT Rev. BisHorp Locan H. Roots I cannot express at all adequately my sense of loss in his death. Ever since I came to China, and indeed before I came, I have known of him and thought of him as a typical example of what the missionary of the Cross of Christ should be. For many years we have worked together in various ways in the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Huet, and my visit to Szechwan in 1914 has left an indelible impression upon me, not only as to Bishop Cassels’ own saintly personal character, but also as to the extra- ordinary way in which that character has impressed itself on the work of the great diocese which he administered. I am also impressed by what I have seen since his death, that in fact his works do follow him. FRoM THE RIGHT Rev. BisHop H. W. K. Mow.u The old man with the skull cap and spectacles on nose, busy in his study with his correspondence or inter- views, giving addresses in his Chapel or Cathedral with amazing vigour and spiritual freshness, has become a fixed institution. .. . Paoning, because he lived there, became known as the ‘place ‘‘ whither the tribes go up’. Having built up the work from the beginning he had a remarkable grip on details and a mine of wisdom minted from experience. Always a reserved man, he had within a rather awe- inspiring exterior one of the kindest of hearts. None of his guests can ever forget the infinite pains he took to make them comfortable. When anyone suffered, the Bishop suffered with them. . . . His activity was remarkable. Nobody could have called him old who saw him on the Badminton court, more than a match for many half hts years, or entering rik Xx BISHOP CASSELS heartedly into the games of his daughter’s family as their idolised grandfather. . . . A tremendous sense of duty and stern self-discipline were marked characteristics of his life. I have never met aman in whom these were so prominent ; I believe it to be a literal fact that he never thought of himself. Hts work, to which he constantly remembered God had called him, was the passion of his ife. He had no hobbies, and found mental relaxation increasingly difficult. Young men meeting him for the first time were amazed at hts intense- ness for a man of his years. Hs great objective was the evangelisation of the district over which he had been set. His great gifts of organisation were subordinated to that end. Much else mght be useful. Nothing must ever crowd evangelisation out. He came to understand the Chinese as few foreigners do. He could disentangle complicated situations and put them right as few others were able to do. He was a masterful man. No one could be more tenacious than he was when his mind was made up. He was extraordinarily shy. It created a barrier which he felt much more acutely even than the rest of us. He was very humble. I had heard his humility spoken of long before I met him, but to work with him for three years was to see what real humility was. . . . Hts devotion to Mrs. Cassels and hers to him were very beautiful to witness. He considered her in every way, and she “ reverenced her husband”. Mrs. Cassels lived for the Bishop, and her personality tended to be lost sight of in his. er courage in the frequent long separations, her bravery in facing the hardships of the early days to which he so often referred, her faithfulness in carrying on her four weekly women’s classes year in and year out for nearly forty years must never be forgotten. The Chinese speak of the Bishop’s entire absence of fear. . TRIBUTES x1 But even more noteworthy was his confidence in his fellow-workers. Others faced with some of his difficulties would have cut the knot quickly and lost a worker. The Bishop had infinite long-suffering and patience with hope. No testimony at his funeral was more touching than that of a prominent Chinese helper, who said when others had lost faith in him he had lost faith in himself ; 1t was the Bishop’s implicit trust in him which brought him back. These traits are rays of light on the inner sanctuary. Day by day he walked with God. A life of prayer was second nature to him. How many have been prayed out to the field by him. Hts knowledge of his Bible was re- markable. Hts love for the Lord, so constantly evidenced, warmed many a cold heart... . FROM THE VENERABLE ARCHDEACON Ku (Translated) What great virtue! What great love ! He took the great responsibility of saving souls. He toiled day and mght to give people education. He climbed high mountains, crossed deep seas, and suffered hardship and taught men. Released were the poor ; enlightened were the ignorant. He preached the Gospel in China over forty years and travelled far and wide beyond the ordinary capacity. So humble that he never thought much about himself ; So wise that he always understood “* what was in man”’. How many men can rank with him ? Terrible to be numbered with transgressors ! We are not only to number converts and churches. ‘* So teach us to number our days.” Time is short. Let us be up and doing. Xi BISHOP CASSELS From THE Rev. K. C. Yt (Translated) Bishop Cassels, of the Szechwan Diocese, died on November 7th, 1925. ight days later Mrs. Cassels also died. The astonishing news stirred the whole Province. Both Chinese and foreigners felt the loss as greatly as if their own parents had died. Everything has changed. How sad we are. When we, the nine thousand Christians of the Diocese, think of the hardships of the forty years which Bishop and Mrs. Cassels endured, in order to bring us to birth, of the way in which they opened up more than 400,000 li of the Diocese, we naturally feel overwhelmed with SOTTOW. eee When the Bishop came to Szechwan he found travelling bad, and the people ignorant, the slaves of the devil. However, he did not try to escape any difficulty or danger. ... When Bishop Cassels began to preach in Paoning the people were self-satisfied and proud, yet he continued to preach. He travelled, and worked his utmost in his earnestness, so that even iron and stones were moved by him. By the Grace of God men were won to the Lord, and became co-workers, and so the work increased. .. . In recent years in spite of his old age and life of hardship Bishop Cassels visited all the Diocesan districts, some trips taking him two or three months. He always decided beforehand the day on which he would arrive at a place. If tt rained he would walk on, in order not to be late. As soon as he arrived at a place, after a few minutes’ rest, he would begin a service for the Christians, or a Confirmation. He would encourage the Christian TRIBUTES Xl workers, and discuss many important matters when he was needing rest. . . Bishop and Mrs. Cassels loved the Lord, they loved men. They worked hard, and accomplished a great work. They were admired by both Chinese and foreigners. They have now gone Home, hand in hand, and are rejoicing together in the Presence of their Lord. .. . Let us trust the Lord, and save men, thus finishing the work which they would have liked to have finished. In this way their spirits will rejoice with us in heaven. Pais ore a) ny Mang bi b 'y Poot ee ee pamennoe ey Ci Rial ‘ae sit nate | Hy ‘ce Me ‘ikea AE ih DEA) etate lage boating Sava i i : ‘a $ ihe ee, 4 oy ne bey re Wk Nahant! ay RNS Oe Be OS ganan ts tr aoe bey ee etek a a, Riek; - Mee Gute Di a Va aN vi nay a , he Brey: sve ie tah Ais ek pani ay Mas SPURL at vty Ma) \iehNy MRA oe sag bo fli (ae oe a wee vay at one ; ve nt eae per . : RA lio 2 cesidavh aehaen eae nue indoeae band ea ad ; Bic ee nyc a. ons nee, Keone or os “ uy RN iat Aves ath ane ee hihi ve : ASD RES od Oe a nna ” ies, ; Oe 4 “A ae “ aie uk age va eee , Ton 4 + * % ‘es iene | of oer yi ok Bh shia Maye ‘ ty # aha i tye py’ a Rens ie ie ce +} Le My, i “oe i ey { pute a ii] a fi e: a cae “et iF t Diu, . mie Ts f | 5 iM 4 he) Oi hig US RE ISLTA rt me eid nih ae eee it CONUS ene ih oe Pa pe sale pene ' ; BA 1 reas ae i mh Li ek: Mea st a: oe wees ! : Mi Rate ben? bh Ait My ne iain san vey RETO S Aa bet are hit pie a neorval Via ein | f Bruty ete fs Bh, Bis 4 eae ba st ie heh tne hae a, nae) ule tik ty ie iy itive Bert Pit ‘ 1 ; ~ ~ Hin a ( : hi, hte)’ d Lai a ; MA) hehe lag ae ae: : 3 . eg bag 4 POG as ana hd bila hi} Rid bY Pan be bia Rey's pam Mis hte iy + i re Vear iY ie Hi 4 a AQ e i yi 5 wif D . i } ” 7 ’ , t ; ot Re wie . a oh bs 7 Pat t Mi .e r ’ i Ab pe, j i b ey . ae we ) L ? ) eke at A Te ul i { 4 ; , eee ou or ay ; ri ial t iad fous BG ee OP iV Vea! F , te oe | ‘ ee ria, ‘ Gal i : * bo ey itaie eee eee ee oa 74 AWLEHORISMPREBAGE A BIOGRAPHER, ere he completes his task, begins to feel something like an inquisitor. Probe he must to find the facts and truth. His is a sacred privilege. Of necessity he seeks admittance into the inner courts of the life of which he writes. Nothing which may be known can he afford to ignore. ‘To all those who have so kindly and graciously introduced the writer into the Bishop’s life, whether in the old home in Portugal or his recent home in Paoning, and to all those who have entrusted him with letters, often personal and confi- dential, we now offer grateful and appreciative thanks. Without such willing assistance our task would have been impossible. But when all such assistance has been received there are three things which conspire to render the picture incomplete. First and foremost are the author’s limita- tions, which are freely acknowledged. Secondly, the deepest things of a man’s life are known only to him- selfand God. No author can pry intothese. Thirdly, those things which most severely test and reveal a man’s character are to be found in his contacts with other men, and yet without breach of confidence or indis- cretion these cannot always be revealed. The picture must, therefore, inevitably suffer much loss in point and force by the employment of generalities, at times, instead of the living details. Within these inescapable limitations we have XV XV1 BISHOP CASSELS sought to tell as true a tale as we know how. Where it has been possible without wounding others we have not hesitated to state the facts. Nothing that can be published has been suppressed, and we trust no details have been distorted. A portrait or a story to be of value must be true. To make it such has been our aim, and no pains have been spared to secure accuracy. While seeking the aid of those who have been the Bishop’s fellow-workers, we have not relied on memory alone, but have sought to verify or correct all such recollections by the use of original documents. In this we have been more fortunate than we had dared to hope, for nearly two thousand autograph or typed letters have come into our hands, apart from much that has been printed or published. This material has been fairly evenly distributed over the whole of the Bishop’s life in China. We have had placed at our disposal his forty years’ correspondence with the China Inland Mission Executive in Shanghai ; his twenty years’ correspondence with Bishop Roots in Hankow ; such annual letters and other correspondence with the Church Missionary Society as have been preserved ; some of his annual letters to Bishop Talbot, with whom he was consecrated on St. Luke’s Day, 1895; his frequent letters to the Rev. W. H. Aldis during recent years; some of his correspondence with his fellow-workers in the diocese, including Bishop Mowll, and a selection of letters to his wife and children, etc. For the last twenty-one years much assistance has been received from The Bulletin of the Diocese of Western China with its regular letter from the Bishop, and full use has been made of all that has been pub- lished in the official organs of the Church Missionary Society and of the China Inland Mission. To mention by name all those to whom the writer AUTHOR’S PREFACE XVI is indebted would necessitate a long list, and we trust that without such detailed reference they will accept our whole-hearted acknowledgment here as though individually given. The author hopes there is none to whom he has not expressed his thanks by letter. The plan adopted has been to allow the Bishop, whenever possible, to speak for himself, believing his own words to be better than those of any interpreter. We have not hesitated, therefore, to quote freely and even extensively from his correspondence. In the editing of the letters quoted, often written under great pressure, we have expanded contractions, occasionally supplied a missing word, unified the spell- ing of Chinese place names according to the now generally adopted Chinese Post Office spelling, and, in agreement with the Bishop’s later practice, have substituted the word “ Chinese ”’ for “ native ”’ in his earlier letters, believing he would himself desire this, since unfortunately the word “ native ”’ has, in certain connections, come to be associated with a sense of inferiority. As the data available far exceeded expectations the book has grown to larger proportions than had been anticipated, but the chief difficulty, nay, the impossible task, has been to keep the records of so fulla life within so small a compass. While the writer accepts full responsibility for what is published, it has been to him a source of much satisfaction that the proof has been read and criticised by the Rev. W. H. Aldis, the Bishop’s colleague for twenty years. If any one will rejoice that the book is finished it will be he, for his office being next to the author’s he has suffered many an invasion when information and counsel have been needed ! The writer cannot send forth the book without expressing his sense of privilege in being allowed to XVill BISHOP CASSELS undertake its preparation, and his gratitude to God for having been enabled to complete it. When the work was well in hand it had to be suddenly laid aside for a serious operation, and when it was nearly finished— on the very day the last two or three hundred letters of the Bishop’s had been read—a sudden development of eye trouble called forth a medical prohibition against further reading. ‘The completion of the task, involv- ing the writing of the last five chapters and the final scrutiny of the whole, were only possible—if a pro- longed delay was to be avoided—through the eyes of others. Of those who have thus kindly assisted we would especially mention Miss Ridge, who has typed the whole of the manuscript—much of it more than once—and rendered ready assistance in many another way. Weare also much indebted to Miss P. A. Hocken for her skilled and generous help in preparing the index. On his debt to his wife—already irredeemable —and to his younger daughter, Dorothea, the writer will not enlarge. Without their aid, the final revision of the manuscript, undertaken during a delightful holiday in the home of a kind friend in the Isle of Wight, would have been indefinitely postponed. May He who called and gave His servant, Bishop Cassels, to the Church in China, accept and use this volume not only to enshrine the past, but to keep alive and perpetuate the spirit and devotion of this “‘ wise master builder ’’. MARSHALL BROOMHALL. SANDOWN, IsLE OF WIGHT, August 1926. CONTENTS PAGE TRIBUTES . i i ; é : ; , ; are VIET AUTHOR’S PREFACE z : ‘ ¢ ) ‘ ‘ q XV LANDMARKS : : f ; : f ; ‘ . XXill Part I—ANCESTRY AND THE HOME IN PORTUGAL LiFe’s LANDSCAPE ; : . A ; : : ; a CONVERGING STREAMS : : ‘ : j : : 5 THe HrEypAy OF YOUTH . : , : : ; ; 10 Part II1—PREPARATION AND THE YEARS IN ENGLAND REJOICING IN THE RACE. : : : : : : 19 THE CALL OF THE CITY . : : : : , A tie THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN : , . : : : ri hiaee &2, Part II]—EARLY DAYS IN NORTH CHINA Gop First : : : : : : : : Jang AMONG THE HILLS OF SHANSI . : i ‘ : SLOG THe City or GREAT PEACE : . ; : : aA Part IV—EARLY YEARS IN WEST CHINA THE CALL OF THE WEST . : ; : ; 4 » FO THE OPENING OF THE CITY : : ; : : me vty Love TRIUMPHANT . : : : : : : en BRINGING Home His BribDE : : ; : ‘ 38, 106 A Wist Master BUILDER . : i , : : (ae ty AN ARDENT PIONEER . : ; ; ; : , byte A LOVER OF ORDER . ; : : ; : : EA fete X1x NO BISHOP CASSELS PAGE Mr. HorsBpurGH’s ENTERPRISE . : : ; ; Mat IN Laspours More ABUNDANT . : ‘ } ; Meh eis A SorROWFUL HOMEGOING : ‘ ; : 4 MEGa Part V.—FIRST BISHOP IN WESTERN CHINA (Before the Revolution) “*Love’s HicHway OF HUMILITY ”’ , ; : : PB rice: THE BisHop AT WoRK 4 : : ; : : 40 sEOO THE CRUCIBLE OF CRITICISM , 2 ; : ; aLos THROUGH FIRE AND WATER s ; ; : q RN 9 0 A Spacious PLACE . } : ; ; : rn ik eea0 POWER TO CONTINUE ; : ‘ : ; : ihaeae SOME WIDER FELLOWSHIPS ‘ ; : : y 2 eS ORGANISATION AND REVIVAL : ; 4 : i Spe Vite LIKE AS A FATHER . : ; ) : : : Re Tu THE Home : : : : : : : : WEN 1a: Part VIBISHOP IN WESTERN CHINA (The Revolution and After) THE REVOLUTION : ) i : : , : sx O75 THE NEw CHURCH . : ' : ; ! : ee eek THe Hitt DIFFICULTY P : ; ; i , eer eta His Last FuRLOUGH . : : } ; : A Ma: Co Ts A PEN PICTURE ; : : ; : ‘ ; Sa acd a PRESSING 'TOWARD THE GOAL . : ) : : vs) His Last JOURNEY . : , ‘ : \ : Pe i 32 STEADY IN THE STORM : , q : : ’ ey puede AT THE GATES OF THE CITY $ { : : , re oe THE MAN AND THE WoRK ; : ; ‘ : rae APPENDICES : : : ; , : , L S368 INDEX , [ d : P ‘ ° y , a Me LF ILLUSTRATIONS W. W. Cassels, Bishop 7 ! j ; : Frontispiece TO FACE PAGE The Bishop’s Father . ; ; 4 The Bishop’s Mother : ' : : 4 : . 8 Garden Scenes in the Oporto Home . : : : BRA ay W. W. Cassels as Child and Youth ’ ! : : WO Did W. W. Cassels as Curate. : : i A ; aly ie fe: M. L. Legg as Missionary Candidate . ; 4 ; wore ga Ground Plan of the Paoning Premises . ‘ X 4 SPW ay ge The Home at Paoning : , 2 : . ‘ ee, The First New Chapel : : ; ’ 5 \ ilu dere, The Bishop’s Private Chapel q : ; 4 ; 100 Bishop and Mrs. Cassels with two Children . ; : BU 205 The Yangtze Gorges . : : : : ; : Piers Ascending a Rapid. ; , ; : : ‘ Cita Les The Bishop’s Children : . : : , , Ae SO Autograph Letter } : ; . : ; k NO 49 The Pro-Cathedral . ; ' ; : 4 2 Mi itode le. Mrs. Cassels in mid life ; : ; 4 ; : CAENROO As Grandfather : ; : ; ; ‘ ; acute a! W. W. Cassels in later life . : : ‘ E : sso XX1 Lae \ Piet a ON oa + 7 hate f ae ahi ae rary rites . \' van qi a bh ae MA eh LF Nea ak vee | a Tat MK Bu oy he oh ‘ 4 ¥ i” ( Mi ’ Py Ve Sa ia Me ; ) as 4 ‘ae an 4 JEN, ah . et ¢ a, at A) ee } mc ay 7 : h n et ‘4 \ Ng Ah Mi ‘ya | ; ra 4" 4 ie | ‘ an y via 4 wee ate se ny | Ne na J 4 , * i Sele ed | 54 4 ; : , ni Bae! end! ae! taki Ut al ee Par) 1, OY rt ; : a. . ; ha ay Aids yia)-ny aon Pay. SOUR i STIS a Tal Ma ta iran sit: | Sees Das ' Le eT. Ce Nie a he | | ) aie eRixt “ah r ya a a | r | ie ee oe ns ui hf yy heats iy e rss Sy Att a | ae rt ; 4 me, Ae A 3 ete AY : Ae : ae , | Nay a A i | 4 Na s a | ws | an 5 vy De ,” sh oT ia ra . : Be oo i ae an eae ee } oi 4 Aang a any Ruut. sD) 6 ay 4 YEN iA ii Bil : Lis ; mar wh | butt . a oh iu } 1812, August 20. 1821, July 13. 1843, October 20. 1858, March 11. 1868, March 25. 1869, February. 1869, June. 1873-1877. 1877-1880. 1882, June 4. 1883, June Io. 1885, February 5. 1885, May. 1886, Christmas. 1887, October 4. 1893, Christmas. 1895, October 18. 1900. 1900, Christmas. 1907, May. IQIO. IQII. 1913, November. 1914, Christmas. 1922, June 24. 1925, Summer. 1925, November 7. 1925, November 15. LANDMARKS Birth of John Cassels, the Father. Birth of Ethelinda Cox, the Mother. Marriage of John Cassels and Ethelinda Cox. W. W. Cassels born. W. W. Cassels came to England. Father died. To School at Percival House, Blackheath. To Repton. To St. John’s College, Cambridge. Ordained Deacon. Ordained Priest. Sailed for China. Reached Shansi, North China. First visit to Paoning. Married to Miss Mary Louisa Legg. Dedication of First Church in Paoning. Consecrated Bishop, St. Luke’s Day. Boxer Outbreak. Shipwrecked in Yangtze. Offer of Mid-China Diocese. Period of Revival. Revolution. Overthrow of Manchu dynasty. Invited to join C.M.S. staff in London. Opening of Pro-cathedral. Consecration of Bishop Mowll as Assistant Bishop. Anti-foreign outburst following Shanghai shooting. Death of Bishop Cassels. Death of Mrs. Cassels. XXiil ‘ oe abn ete AS ia ke a ' nan fect he e ee) : / bs A At y' pals Mintel Ark Hoi ath Hn ‘ Re haa i Hebi pgia HE 2 oa ln ee ~ ge PARTI ANCESTRY AND THE HOME IN PORTUGAL Every soul is an abyss, a mystery of love and pity. A sort of sacred emotion descends upon me whenever I penetrate the recesses of this sanctuary of man, and hear the gentle murmur of the prayers, hymns, and supplications which arise from the hidden depths of the heart. These involuntary confidences fill me with a tender pity and a religious awe and shyness. The whole experience seems to me as wonderful as poetry, and divine with the divineness of birth and dawn. Speech fails me, I bow myself and adore.—AmIEL. LIFE’S LANDSCAPE In this Valley our Lord formerly had His Country House... . Some also have wished that the next way to their Father’s House were here, that they might be troubled no more with either Hills or Mountains to go over; but the Way is the Way, and there’s an end.—Pilgrim’s Progress. In one of the luxuriant gardens of Portugal, amid the beauty of the flowers, John Cassels, a young man of business, and Ethelinda Cox, a charming girl still in her teens, plighted their troth. Here in this foreign clime these two builded their home, into which happy and hallowed centre was born a family of thirteen children, of which goodly company the subject of our story was the ninth child and sixth son. In Portugal, where he was born, William Wharton Cassels spent the first ten years of his life ; in England, where he was educated, he made his home for the next sixteen or seventeen years; while to the Land of Sinim, where he became missionary pioneer and first Bishop in Western China, he devoted the rest of his days—a period of more than forty years. A child of the open air he revelled in the sunlit country of Northern Portugal. “ Blowzed with health and wind and rain ”’ he grew into a sturdy youth with a hearty and healthy love for sport. At Repton he took his place in the school Cricket Eleven, and became a doughty player in the school’s “ Rugger’”’! team, gaining his cap of honour. At Cambridge this love of 1 Re the “‘ Rugger ”’ of those days, see p. 21. 3 4 BISHOP CASSELS the open still prevailed, and he is remembered to-day by some of his contemporaries as a distinguished football player who only missed his “ Blue” by breaking his leg in a college game. Sturdy in mind and body he was just as robust in soul. When called to the Mission field, he devoted himself to the arduous work of a pioneer with vigour and joy. When consecrated Bishop in Western China— a diocese unique both in extent and population— grace and humility became as conspicuous in his life as his youthful love of sport had been. Aflame with a longing to see his fellow-men saved, all things were made subject to this passion. And after more than forty years of toil in and for the land of his adoption, when bitter anti-foreign feeling was inflamed and ingratitude was abroad in the land, he wrote these heart-revealing words : It is deeply impressed on me that we must now remind ourselves again that it was not for praise or approval that we came out here. We came to follow in the steps of Him Who was despised and rejected of men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. Perhaps this is one of the chief lessons we have to learn at a time when an extraordinary bitter hatred has been stirred up against us. ‘“‘If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of His household !”’ He was kind to the unthankful and the evil. May we continue to do good, hoping for nothing again. At the end of my thirty years’ episcopate it is far better to be thus following the Master’s steps than receiving commendation and congratulations from men. It is the story of this man’s life we seek to tell ; to trace it as a bounding, bubbling burn among the hills of youth, to watch it as it deepens and strengthens its channels in early manhood, and to follow it through- out its widening way carrying blessing to countless souls, until it passes from our mortal vision into the boundless ocean of Eternity. CONVERGING STREAMS Be not amazed at life ; ’tis still The mode of God with His elect, Their hopes exactly to fulfil, In times and ways they least expect. COVENTRY PATMORE. IF we would follow the streams of life which met and mingled in the Cassels’ family under the sunny skies of Portugal, we must trace them to their respective sources in Scotland and the west of England. On the father’s side we find the family of Cassels— originally spelt Cassillis—among the hills of Ayr and Fife in Scotland, and on the mother’s side we meet the family of Cox among the valleys of West England. For several generations the Cassels had been ship- owners at Borrowstounness on the Firth of Forth until the Bishop’s great-grandfather, Andrew Cassels, moved to Leith. His son, Dr. James Cassels—the Bishop’s grandfather—following the lead of so many of his countrymen, came south across the Tweed and set up as a physician at Kendal and Lancaster, where he married Mary Hodgson, the daughter of the Rev. Francis Hodgson of Bury. Kind-hearted, benevolent, and philanthropic, his thoughts were perhaps more for others than for himself and even for his own. The poor he attended free, and gave prizes to those who kept themselves off the rates. His youngest son, John Cassels, the father of our subject, was, in consequence of his father’s disregard 5 6 BISHOP CASSELS for this world’s wealth, early plunged into the stern and hard school of life. Though of slight build physically he was a sturdy Christian, and from the first showed his strength of character by following his own convictions when called upon to mix with un- congenial companions. When still young he was sent to Lisbon to represent his cousin Robert Hodgson of Manchester, who in those days was a well-to-do merchant with connections in Portugal. Here young John Cassels soon made friendships with men of principle like-minded with himself, with whom he helped to found a school for the children of British subjects hitherto neglected. This was no easy task, for Roman Catholic influence was strong and unfriendly. On Sundays he gave lessons to the children from the Epistles, Gospels, and Collects for the day, and at his own expense employed a scholar to translate the English Prayer Book into Portuguese, which was subsequently published by the 8.P.C.K. This school existed for some forty years, the buildings now being used for the British Hospital nearby the British Episcopal Church. After some four years in Lisbon he moved to Oporto, where he subsequently established his own business and spent the rest of his life. It was here he first met his future wife, and we must therefore leave him for the moment and turn our thoughts to the little market town of Painswick, among the Cotswold Hills in the west of England, whence his bride-to-be was to come. Here in the old homestead of ‘‘ Olivers ” we shall find Ethelinda Cox, a bright and attractive girl of eighteen years of age. For many generations her people had been owners of mills for the manufacture of the famous west of England cloth, and her father was also engaged in the same trade. He was a quiet, JOHN CASSELS. . The Bishop’s Father. To face page 6. CONVERGING STREAMS 7 sturdy old English gentleman, while her mother was a woman of marked character, with a face in which strength and sweetness mingled. She lived to be ninety-two, and her grandchildren—the future Bishop among them—stood in no small awe of her. Ethelinda Cox, though nursed in this secluded spot, had a wide and intelligent outlook upon life, for her mother, distantly related to Warren Hastings, by whom she was much admired, would talk to her of India, that great possession of the British Empire. Of her uncles, three were in the army, one in India, while another had served with Wellington in the Peninsula War and at Waterloo. And her eldest brother, John Cox,! was away as a missionary in India in connection with the London Missionary Society, where for the space of thirty years he lived the life of an ardent pioneer without once coming home. One of a family of twelve—six boys and six girls— Ethelinda was a lover of the open air. In the garden of her home she reserved a small sacred spot for quiet meditation and prayer, and nothing rejoiced her more than to get away for a tramp over the Cotswold Hills —a freedom which in those days was accounted some- what wild and unmaidenly. She was one of those who, had she been asked “‘ When are you most your- self ’’, would probably have answered : Not on glittered floors Pattened by dancing feet, But striding up cloudy hills, That are redolent of peat. In 1839, when only eighteen years of age, she bade 1 His son, Dr. Cox, and his daughter, Miss M. E. Cox, who subsequently married Mr. Hollander, joined the ranks of the China Inland Mission. Mr. and Mrs. Hollander subsequently transferred to the American Episcopal Mission at Hankow, while Dr. Cox is to-day in charge of the C.I.M. Hospital at Jaochow. 8 BISHOP CASSELS farewell to the old home, and ventured forth to the sunlit land of Portugal. Embarking at Liverpool in a small schooner she landed at Oporto after a voyage of fifteen days. The scene which broke upon her vision as she reached Oporto, that ancient stronghold of the Chris- tians against the attacks of the Moors, deserves a brief description here, for not only was she to find her future home in this locality for many years to come, but the subject of our story was to be born and nurtured in these surroundings. ‘“ Oporto stands on the steep and rocky North Bank of the Douro River, three miles from the sea. ‘The houses, as they rise confusedly from the river’s edge, some painted in strong reds, blues, and greens, some left whitewashed, and the majority retaining the granite grey of the stone they are built with, make up a very strange and beautiful panorama ringed, as the city is, by the encircling pine-covered mountains, and many of these houses stand embowered in the greenery of gardens.” On the south bank of the river immediately opposite, and in those days connected by a suspension bridge, is the suburb of Villa Nova de Gaya, with a smaller population and extensive wine cellars. Here the well- known port wine is made in what the English call “ lodges’, which are chiefly managed by English firms. Oporto to-day is very much modernised with electric trams, but in those times the ox-carts were the only means of transport, unless one includes the women, who carried on their heads anything from a piece of soap to a heavy trunk, a chest of drawers, or a basket containing a pair of babies. With their full skirts bunched up below the waist, with a bright coloured ETHELINDA CASSELS. The Bishop’s Mother. To face page 8. CONVERGING STREAMS 9 shawl and a gay cotton handkerchief on the head tied under the chin, these women, with their bare feet or national soccos, made a picturesque scene. It was not unnatural that Ethelinda Cox and John Cassels should meet within the somewhat limited British community of Oporto, and as already recorded they plighted their troth in the garden of a mutual friend. On October 20, 1843, they were married at Painswick from the bride’s old home, whence they shortly afterwards returned to Portugal. Into their home at Oporto, at one time north of the river and later in the southern country suburb, thirteen children were born, seven sons and six daughters, and of this goodly stock William Wharton was the ninth child and sixth son. He was born on March 11, 1858, and was baptised just a month later in the British Consulate Chapel in Oporto, his first name William being after his mother’s brother in Canada, and his second name Wharton after his brothers’ tutor (from Repton) who became his godfather. It is not necessary to follow the fortunes of this large family,! save only to say that some adventured into the business world of South America, some founded their own homes in Portugal, the land of their birth, while others settled in the old home country of England, where their parents had been born, while one, the subject of our story, found his sphere of service in China. 1 Of Bishop Cassels’ brothers three, Walter, Herbert, and Francis, went to South America, one, John, became Chaplain in India, and two, James and Andrew, remained in Portugal, Herbert returning from South America to Portugal later. Of the six sisters, one died in infancy, four married—Mrs. Alan Watts, Mrs. Cobb, Mrs. Bayne, Mrs. Nixon—the other being Miss Bertha Cassels, whose home in England has been so much to her brother, the Bishop, and his children. PEED Arye Gr, sy OU God Who created me Nimble and light of limb, In three elements free, To run, to ride, to swim ; Not when the sense is dim, But now from the heart of joy, I would remember Him ; Take the thanks of a boy. H. C. BEECHING. WHEN little William came as a sturdy babe into the home of John and Ethelinda Cassels at Oporto and began “‘ with purrs and with coos to give them his views of the little world of his own’, he came to be no solitary and spoiled child, for the rooms of that home were already ‘“ musical with joyous strife of children’s voices and the sweet hardihood of laughter ”’. With eight brothers and sisters older than himself he was from the first to profit by the healthy rivalry of the nursery, which was a fitting prelude to the keener competitions of the playground and the still sterner school of life. In that sunny and salubrious climate the home into which little William was welcomed was large and bare, with delightfully spacious rooms for the warm weather, and with a large garden ending in a wood of stately pines. Here his elder brothers and sisters revelled in nature, when free from the lessons given by their tutor, and here he too learned to love the open life. Of the home life of those joyous and care free days Io THE HEYDAY OF YOUTH II we are happily able to give a living picture from the pen of his brother Francis, specially written for these pages. Since William was only eighteen months older than myself, it can be said we were cradled together. We belonged to a gloriously large family of thirteen, of which he was the ninth, and the sixth son. All but one reached a vigorous maturity, and ten of us were blessed with olive branches. The rough and tumble of such a community had full scope in the unconventional surroundings of the large “‘ quinta’’, in the suburbs of Oporto, where our parents resided, with its barn-like rooms, the large flower garden with a fountain in the middle, the prolific vegetable patches with here and there vines supported by tall rough-hewn stone uprights, maize plantations further out—(and how much beauty there is in each individual maize plant)—avenues of chestnut trees, and bordering the far end of the grounds, our father’s cotton-printing works, which, as things were then, were considered quite a big concern. Our good mother was a believer in fresh air ; and in such an environment, and in such a superb climate as that of the north of Portugal, and with all kinds of domestic animals to interest us, we children required no urging to fall in with her views. But life was not all spent in the open air and sunshine. Each morning there was family prayers, principally consisting of the Psalms of the day and collects from the Prayer Book, earnestly conducted by our father; there were some short elementary lessons after breakfast ; and on Sundays those of us who were considered old enough, with our big pinafores discarded, sprucely arrayed, carefully groomed, and frequently inspected hours before setting out, were marshalled to attend the Consulate Chapel in the city some three miles distant. Generally as many of us as it was possible to fit in went in the big family wagonette, but sometimes we all walked, except perhaps my mother, who went on donkey-back. And the scene is recalled of the schoolroom in the long winter evening, lit by one tallow candle (to use the snuffers of which there was often a squabble), occupied by the lengthy tail of the family. We were easily amused in those days, playing dominoes, white horse, and such games. And then a call used to take us up to the drawing-room, where our mother read to us for a short time before bed-time. And what she read is often more than a mere recollection: whenever the t2 BISHOP CASSELS pages of Robinson Crusoe or Pilgrim’s Progress are turned her voice and intonation seem to-day as consciously present as they were then. No children can owe more to their mother than we did to ours; in childhood she was mother, nurse, doctor, teacher and priest ; in maturity she was still mother, and with it our most intimate and sympathetic friend, a friend gifted with great common sense, and able to take the particular of life that each had however different from those of the others, the holder of our secrets and encourager ; and ever remembering the needs, worries, and aspirations of each one of us in her prayers. Our father died when we were small children—William must have been about eleven years—and the burden of bringing us up was entirely on our-mother’s shoulders. Supreme as she was to us, while devoting herself to his care—and he was an invalid for some time before his death—we were constantly left in the charge of a nursery governess, whose well-meaning- ness was mixed up with a terrifying ultra-Calvinism, which she sometimes rubbed well into our young minds. In justice to her memory and faithful service, be it said, that she suffered from moments of great physical depression due to some liver trouble. Years after this good creature was fond of recounting to our wives and to our own children our childish peccadilloes. Perhaps her desire to be graphic led to a little exaggeration ; and sometimes she attributed these to whom they did not correspond. She always, for instance, insisted that it was Francis that emptied a pot of warm glue over William’s head, whereas Francis has a vivid recollection of the results, lasting for days, of William’s thus anointing him. She also used to insist that William as a child was given to exhibitions of a violent temper, hinting there was some moral lesson to be drawn at his turning out so good a man; but I cannot remember that he had this trait, and think she must have been generalising from some particular case. On the contrary, towards me, his immediate junior and inseparable companion, to the best of my recollection, which in childhood is pretty good, he was then, and as boyhood went along, always fair and forbearing ; indeed, I can recall instances when he was too long-suffering, and should have turned and thrashed me. In regard to William’s temper as a boy the other members of the family agree with the nurse and not with their brother Francis, whose forgiving spirit is evidently such that though William emptied the pot THE HEYDAY OF YOUTH 13 of hot glue over his head he thinks that he and not William ought to be thrashed! We therefore venture, but without adducing the incidents remembered, to record that he sometimes gave way to tempestuous and violent outbreaks of passion as a lad, though he early learned the difficult lesson that he that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city. The discipline of the large and ample family life at home and of the football field at school taught him self-control, and to be master of his spirit. Yet throughout life many who knew him best felt that behind his shy and reserved exterior there slumbered the pent up fires of a dormant volcano. To the picture of that life in Portugal portrayed by his brother we may add some further details supplied by other members of the family. The father, though engrossed in business, sought to encourage his children in the love of games. Before his marriage he frequently amused the young people of the English colony in Oporto with his magic lantern, and this was constantly produced at his children’s parties in later days. He also delighted to disguise himself as an old lady or some other character, and appear to the surprise and merriment of the youngsters. This love of impersonation the children inherited from him, and there were great times and high glee when charades were performed in the home, even the cocks and hens from the garden being introduced, and once even the donkey! This love of histrionics William carried with him to Cambridge, where he joined the College Dramatic Society, and during the vacations he acted in a simple way at home, but after his ordination he dropped all this. Music and other recreations also had their place in that home in Oporto, and in the winter evenings when 14 BISHOP CASSELS the nights were cold, the mother would read aloud in the drawing-room to the children, as well as to their father who was often in delicate health. Chess, too, had its vogue, and this William learned to play in a darkened room when kept from more active pursuits by a serious attack of inflammation of the eyes. In the early days, when the elder members of the family were at lessons, the younger ones were allowed to play and do much as they liked in the shade of the vine-covered remadas, and on Sunday afternoons during the hot summer weather the mother would read to them in the wood from the Bible, or Pilgrim’s Progress, and sometimes from some more difficult work beyond their comprehension. All this time, by example as well as by precept, they were taught to sympathise with and care for the less fortunate members of society. On the streets there were ever present maimed and deformed beggars, and some with loathsome sores. One such used to be laid in the streets on his bed, and another mentally deficient was nicknamed by the children “‘ Mad Jenkins’. ‘To all such the father and mother were kind and thoughtful, so that their children learned to follow in their footsteps of mercy. Ten happy and ever memorable years were thus spent by William in this Portugal home, and then—the father being in delicate health and having retired from business—the larger portion of the family left to settle in England. This breaking up of the old home was, of course, a time of great excitement for the young people who had never seen England before, and some of the family still remember how William with others rushed eagerly from side to side of the ship, as it slowly proceeded up “THE LARGE FLOWER GARDEN WITH A FOUNTAIN IN THE MIDDLE.” (See page 11.) GARDEN SCENES IN THE OPORTO HOME. To face page 14. THE HEYDAY OF YOUTH 5 the ‘Thames, in their keenness not to miss any of the sights of England’s great Metropolis. London was reached on March 25, 1868, just a fortnight after William’s tenth birthday. Thus closed the Portugal chapter of his life. PART II PREPARATION AND THE YEARS IN ENGLAND Lord, I would follow, but— Who answers Christ’s insistent call Must give himself, his life, his all, Without one backward look. Who sets his hand unto the plow, And glances back with anxious brow, His calling hath mistook. Christ claims him wholly for His own ; He must be Christ’s and Christ’s alone. | JoHN OxENHAM. 18 REJOICING IN THE RACE Just as I am, young, strong and free, To be the best that I can be For truth, for righteousness and Thee, Lord of my life, I come. M. FARNINGHAM. WitH the closing of the ten years in Portugal William Cassels entered upon a period of from sixteen to seven- teen years in England, roughly divided into his school- days at Stroud, Blackheath, and Repton, his three to four years at Cambridge, and his two and a half years as curate in London. After arrival in England from Portugal the parents, with those members of the family who had accompanied them, settled at Stroud, where William soon began to enjoy the larger liberties of life, for in Portugal he had mingled but little with the people, apart from those in his father’s employ. Here at Stroud also he. was introduced with his younger brother, Francis, into the routine of school life, but having in true school-boy fashion a greater relish for the playing field than for the classroom. Within nine months of settling at Stroud serious news! from Portugal caused the parents to return in 1 James Cassels (the Bishop’s eldest brother) had a somewhat dis- tinguished career in Portugal. As early as 1867 he built the first Protestant chapel in Oporto, and subsequently he and his brother Andrew were ordained by Dr. Plunket, the Archbishop of Dublin, who visited Oporto for this purpose. James Cassels’ church, St. John the Evangelist, sup- ported his brother’s work in China through the “ Porto-China Fund ”’ of 19 20 BISHOP CASSELS haste to that country, while William, with his brothers and sisters, was left in the care of his grandmother Cox and a maiden aunt. Little did William Cassels and the other members of the family realise that they were saying farewell to their father for the last time. Frail in health he suffered considerably on the voyage, which he did not long survive. He died in Oporto on February 6, 1869, being laid to rest in the land where his children had been born, and where he was highly respected and greatly esteemed. What a serious bereavement he had _ sustained, young William Cassels, then barely eleven years old, would only faintly realise, but he learned in later years of the sterling excellencies of his father, and of his deep devotion to the Church of England, a devotion arrived at through personal conviction, for he had not been brought up in that Church. Of William’s life at Stroud during his father’s and mother’s absence in Portugal we are fortunately able again to have the reminiscences of his younger brother, Francis, who writes as follows : Willtam’s school life began when he was about ten years old. ‘The arcadia in Portugal had been left behind, and we were living in Stroud, Gloucestershire ; and he attended as a day-boy, a small school kept by a clergyman of the name of Baker. English school life fifty years ago and less was not the grand thing it is to-day; and one of the objectionable features common to many preparatory schools then was that boys of all ages, from seven or eight years to eighteen years or over, were mixed together. Apart from other considerations, such as bullying—hardly known nowadays—if games are to be a feature in school life it is clear that the ages, sizes, and skill of SS which another brother, Herbert Cassels, was treasurer. In consequence of Roman Catholic opposition James was in 1868 sentenced to six years’ banishment from the country. This sentence was annulled on appeal. It was this trouble that took Mr. and Mrs. John Cassels back to Oporto. REJOICING IN THE RACE 21 the boys should not be as different as a three weeks terrier is from a fully grown fox-hound. There was some kind of foot- ball at this school, but the small fry were not expected to join in. I remember William’s getting into sad disgrace by com- mitting what was considered a grave misdemeanour by those dear old ladies, our grandmother, aunt, and governess, who were looking after us in the absence of our mother, by running off to join in the game, and turning up hours after he was expected in a state of weariness and disorder. Proper toggery for football was hardly thought of in those days, certainly not in our case, as we were hardly removed from the aforesaid big pinafore stage of existence, which covered all defects beneath. In 1869, after the death of our father, we moved to Crooms Hill, in the higher part of Greenwich, where my elder brother, John,! was curate to Dr. Miller, the vicar of the town, a well- known preacher of the old Evangelical school ; to whose church we were taken twice a Sunday. The long and not very bright services were followed by his sermons of an hour or more, generally learned expositions of St. Paul’s writings, together with the discomfort of sitting in the box-like pews, were no doubt a useful discipline for some of us children ; William, however, was a model of good behaviour and attentive- ness, and I recall his sometimes taking notes of the preacher’s points. At the time of this move William entered, again as a day-boy, Percival House School, on the borders of Blackheath. Even in those spartan days it was soon recognised that our having to be at the first classes at 7 o’clock in the morning—and nippy it was across the open heath in the winter’s dawn—was too much to expect from us; so after a term or two we became weekly boarders. | Probably William, like myself, always associated the years spent here with football more than anything else. Indeed, I remember exchanging views with him as to the gloomy thing life, when we were grown up, would be without it. The rules and etiquette of rugger were not then standardised, as they were shortly after by the formation of the Rugby Union. But one of our school-fellows who, I understand, did brilliantly afterwards at Woolwich, had a genius for organisation. Under his captaincy a school fifteen was carefully selected, uniform jerseys and stockings were given out, proper goal and touch 1 The Rev. John W. Cassels, educated at St. John’s, Cambridge, where he graduated as a Wrangler, became curate to Canon Miller, Vicar of St. Alphege and St. Mary, Greenwich, and subsequently Vicar of St. Thomas’, Batley, and then Chaplain in India. 22 BISHOP CASSELS posts were acquired, and fixture cards were printed —all of © which seemed to us wonderfully correct and up to date, and corresponding to the high social standing of the school. William was perhaps the shortest man of the team ; but he was a thick-set and very sturdy boy, and was chosen as likely to do useful work in what we then termed “‘ squash ups ”’, now known as ‘“scrums.’”? Some clubs played what was known as the “‘ hacking game’’; that was kicking the ball, and very often more or less accidentally, the shins of your opponents, in the squash ups. This kind of game, however, was very quickly universally tabooed. Deliberately heeling out the ball behind was not considered by us quite the thing to do, although the rules, such as they were, may, strictly speaking, have allowed it. The tactics of both sides were nothing more or less than a mutual frontal attack in which attempt was made to push the ball through the enemy’s first line, when it could be picked up; and in this we at any rate found a small centre man, such as William, backed by the weight of the bigger men, important. If Waterloo was won on the Eton cricket fields, as Wellington is said to have declared, William’s taking football as seriously as he did when a boy, presaged the whole-hearted earnestness with which he afterwards looked on life; and no excuse is wanted for giving the foregoing details. I will only add that at Repton, whither he went in 1873, he obtained both his cricket and football colours ;1 and that he was tried for the Varsity Soccer ‘Team at Cambridge; but his leg was broken in a college game, and he gave up further playing. When at Percival House we learnt to swim. I have an idea that in this I was his better; but perhaps the good fellow allowed me to think so—which would have been just like him to have done so. Years after, referring to a pocket Communion Service that I had sent him, he told me that it was at the bottom of the Yangtze, where too, he laughingly added, he would also have been, on one of the times he was shipwrecked, if he had not learnt to swim in the Greenwich Public Baths. To all these schools I followed him, after the lapse of a term or two; and he was indeed my guide, philosopher and 1 His character as given in the School records is as follows : (1) In the School Cricket Eleven, 1877. ‘‘ An unsuccessful bat, but a busy field.” (2) A Football “ Cap of Honour ” (=School team) in 1877. ‘‘ A sturdy player, always well up to the ball and very determined. May always be relied on for good hard work. A good kick.” W. W. CASSELS AS CHILD AND YOUTH. 1. William (standing) with his elder 2. William (standing) with his younger brother Herbert. brother Francis. 3. William when at Percival House 4. William when at Repton. School. Lo face page 22. yA _ - 7 , a ths Ne REJOICING IN THE RACE 23 friend on these occasions ; at Repton, however, he was above me in work and games, and the tradition of hierarchy of a big public school was duly observed by us. Incidents are forgotten, but the figure of a quiet, reserved boy, with an atmosphere about him indicating that there must be a great deal in him, who played hard, worked hard, a thorough sportsman (which in the highest sense he always was to the end of the chapter) remains. His reserve, which was something more than introspection, did not encourage especial friendships, either at School or College ; but that he was re- membered with affection was evidenced by the greetings he received at an Old Reptonian Dinner that we attended together ; several of our old school-fellows speaking to me about his having been ‘ such a splendid fellow’. While his quiet and unostentatious influence was always for good, he was no “saint”. I remember his wanting to fight a sixth form boy ; his opponent was game enough to accept the challenge, but on account of his standing, mentioned the difficulty of keeping the meeting quiet ; so it was arranged that when on their way home at the end of the term, the principals with their seconds should get out from the train at the first convenient station, for the purpose of having their mill. ‘This, however, did not take place, as friendly relations were re-established after a few days. I left Repton before William did, and drifted from one opening to another in the world of business ; and became also a constant visitor at Doubting Castle with Mr. Worldly Wiseman as my companion ; which is mentioned to show the nature of the talks that William and I had, when we met, and when these took a serious turn. He was by no means then, or ever, narrow-minded, although with my priggishness, I perhaps so considered and treated him. He always listened patiently and good-naturedly enough to my logic and sophistries and some- times answered them, but with time experience of life brought to me the common knowledge that the points of the cleverest argumentations will always be blunted when directed against conviction. Repton, where Cassels was from 1873 to 1877, enjoyed at that time a well-deserved reputation, largely owing to the influence of Dr. Pears, the Head- master. He found the school a Grammar School of the old type with only fifty boys, whose fortunes had fluctuated a great deal. He established it as a public 24. BISHOP CASSELS school, and raised its numbers to two hundred and fifty. The first step in this growth had already taken place when Cassels was there. Happily we have other reminiscences of those days when Cassels was from fifteen to nineteen years of age, in addition to those of his brother. The Rev. H. Sykes, who became a missionary in Palestine, in a contribution too long to quote in full, writes : I do not recollect that Cassels and I were contemporary in any particular form room.* Where our paths crossed was in the athletic part of our school life. We were both devoted to garnest ee Cassels was one of the indefatigables. I have quite a vivid recollection of the bowling style he developed, a longish run with a deep overhead medium paced delivery. But I think of him more as a football player than as a cricketer. In those ‘“‘ antediluvian ”’ times our Repton game was a mixture of the Rugby and the Association games imported, I believe, from Harrow. Thus we had catching the ball, making our heel mark, and the right of a drop kick; there was no running with the ball but we touched down behind the line of goal-post, took the ball back and kicked over a goal as in the Rugby game. We always used an oval ball. Well do I remember Cassels in that part of our school life. He was always in the very thick of the squash, and those squashes of “ blues and reds ” were sometimes of uncommon size in what was known as “ ‘The Hall Orchard ’’. Later the big sides were broken up and more order developed. But Cassels was ever a power in the squash. He always seemed to emerge from the middle with the ball. He never seemed to succumb to pressure. He was short, thick-set, with neck and shoulders unbendable. ‘The ball out in play he was always after it and on it dribbling, being rather a “ forward ”’ than a “back”. Eventually he got his cap of honour, and right worthily so. Another mind-view of him is en route from his house—a little distance off in the village—to his school form room, his arm circling a load of books. I picture him thus against the ‘“* Barn ” (old gymnasium) wall walking with bent head and shoulders, approaching the school arch of ua beauty, and to all old Reptonians of ineffaceable memory. . As a boy REJOICING IN THE RACE 25 I always felt that there was another and deeper Cassels than the one outside... . The quiet consistency, the dogged per- tinacity that never gave in, and that went on until the game was finished, whether at cricket, football, or fives, was to serve its possessor ‘well as missionary and missionary-Bishop. It was at Repton, too, that Cassels and Stanley Smith became acquainted. Of this friendship—which was to mean so much to both—and of those days, Stanley Smith writes : He and I were school-fellows together at Repton forty-nine years ago, and then our friendship was first formed. But as he was not in the same house we did not see much of each other. I well remember the enthusiastic welcome he got after playing a fine innings at a certain cricket match which got him his colours. In 1876 Granville Waldegrave (the present Lord Radstock) and I with another boy, Hogg, had a Bible reading and Prayer Meeting in a certain room over a tuck shop. We were all in Fowler’s house (he was in Clucas’s house). The next year a boy named Collins, son of one of the Church Missionary Society’s pioneer missionaries in China, proposed that other houses should join, and at the first meeting there were eight present, among whom Cassels was one, C. H. Williams, a son of Sir George Williams, was another, and a Dundas Harford Battersby—whose name was afterwards changed to Battersby Harford ; later on his brother John joined, whose name, Canon Harford of Ripon, is connected with the Keswick movement, of which his father, Canon Battersby, was one of the original promoters. ‘This meeting developed into the Old Reptonian Prayer Union, which has now a world-wide membership. It is nice to connect the future Bishop with this schoolboy venture. The bonds then formed were not forgotten in later years at Cambridge, where there was established an Old Reptonian Prayer Union, which played its part in bringing three Reptonians into the Cambridge Band. In the autumn of 1877 William Cassels went up to Cambridge, joining St. John’s, which was regarded as “the family College ’’, his uncle, Andrew Cassels, for forty years Vicar of Batley, and his elder brother, 26 BISHOP CASSELS John, having been there before him. Of his three to four years at the University there is little that calls for special comment. He was never a “ book-worm”’, but rather a man of action, and he did not distinguish himself as a scholar, being perhaps more addicted to sport than books. ‘To his football experience—his broken leg and failure to gain his “‘ blue ’—reference has already been made. As an undergraduate he was beloved by his college friends, earning for himself, by reason of his reserved and somewhat taciturn ways, the sobriquets of “‘ Father Cassels’? and ‘“ William the Silent ”’. In December, 1880, he took his B.A. in a Pass degree, with theology for his special, and for the next eighteen months continued to combine reading for his Bishop’s Examination with private coaching. Before concluding this chapter a brief reference may be made to one or two of his vacations. While at Cambridge, and later when a theological student, he took a private tutorship during the vacations, going in this capacity to Burton-on-Trent and Scarborough. One of the chief qualifications demanded was that he should be able to teach cricket ! This would certainly not be the least congenial part of his task. In 1881, however, he spent his summer holidays abroad, joining his brother Herbert, who had business on the Con- tinent, for what was to have been a sea trip along the north coast of Spain and down the west of Portugal as far as Oporto. After spending a Sunday at St. Sebastian, on the borders of France, they took a dilig- ence as far as Bilbao, and there embarked in a “ potty little Spanish coasting steamer to Santander”. ‘The poor little vessel was about the size of a fishing trawler, and probably empty, for though Herbert Cassels proved a good sailor, William “ had an awfully bad time ”’. REJOICING IN THE RACE 27 In view of this truly sickening experience the brothers landed at Santander, and in order to avoid “‘ any more cockle-shell passages’, they travelled all night by land in an old-fashioned Spanish delligincia to their destina- tion. In spite of this bad beginning they declared they had had a really good time together—or at least one of the party—the good sailor—did ! THE CALL OF THE CITY He had none of Ruskin’s hatred of industrialism or of the great industrial cities. .. . He loved natural beauty, but more than mountain or moor he loved men, and the city was no Inferno or Purgatory to him, but a great ocean of human life, whose storms and tides it was an exhilaration to breast and swim. D. S. Carrns oF A. R. MacEwan. Younc Cassels when he left the University to face life’s sterner duties was about twenty-three years of age and in all the buoyant health of sturdy manhood. Happily he was in no doubt as to his vocation. From early years he had been conscious of God’s call to service, and he ‘‘ was not disobedient to the heavenly vision”. From a child he had known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make men wise unto salvation, and he had been possessed with an ever- deepening sense of his responsibility to proclaim their message. There are no records of any great spiritual crisis in his early life. Apparently he had not experienced, like the Apostle Paul, a sudden conversion changing the whole tenor of his being, nor had he, like the Philippian gaoler, passed through an earthquake ere he found his Saviour. Rather like Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened, had he greeted the dawning of that Light which shineth more and more unto the perfect 28 THE CALL OF THE CITY 29 day. But there was no doubt that the day had dawned, though he gives no date for his spiritual birth. The vows made for him at his baptism were redeemed by him as his soul awakened to the claims of God and his fellow-men. How early he recognised the call to the ministry is made clear by his brother Francis, who writes : Here I may mention that William must have been about twelve or thirteen years old, when he confided very solemnly to me as a secret that he had made up his mind to be a clergy- man. I have no idea what made him make this choice; our mother may have influenced it ; and most certainly he would have gone to her about it. It was a great deal more than a boy’s passing fancy, for there was never after any shadow of turning from this objective. I am unaware that, until the powerful call to go to China came to him, he had thoughts of any other field of work than in England. On June 4, 1882, he was ordained Deacon by the Bishop of Rochester, and Priest on June 10 a year later, the former service being at Purley and the latter at St. Mark’s, Battersea. He was distinctly fortunate in the Vicar under whom he was called to commence his ministry as also in the parish itself, which offered fine scope for the development of his evangelistic gifts. The church was All Saints’, South Lambeth, and the Vicar, the Rev.—subsequently Canon—Allen T. Edwards, a staunch Evangelical, and a much-beloved man of God. ‘The manifold activities of this parish demanded many helpers, for there were no fewer than six Sunday Schools with an aggregate of some three thousand scholars. There were also thousands of railway men connected with the large Nine Elms Works of the London and South-Western Railway residing in the locality. On Sundays the church was crowded to its utmost capacity, the aisles being filled with chairs, and even the chancel steps and pulpit stairs being 30 BISHOP CASSELS occasionally utilised. ‘There was also a vigorous open-air work carried on incessantly by a devoted band of workers, many souls being pointed to Christ, not only by the Word preached, but by the consecrated song of a splendid choir. It was into this sphere of Christian activity that William Cassels came in June, 1882, throwing all his boundless energies and zeal into this glad service. And so much knit together did vicar and curate become. that it was a common thing to hear the people say as they walked down the streets: ‘‘ There go David and Jonathan’”’. To the work in the open air, or pulpit or Sunday School—over one of which he acted as clerical superintendent—he gave himself as wholly and unreservedly as he had formerly done to sport. He was ever a strenuous toiler, filled with almost boundless energy. Happily we are able to give one or two incidents which, like windows, let in a flood of light upon the life and spirit of the man in those days. The first is by his brother Francis, who, after comment- ing on a certain bashfulness or reserve which char- acterised his brother, tells the following story, which possibly happened when he was visiting his mother, who then lived at Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath : Be the foregoing (that is, his bashfulness) as it may, the following incident will show that he did not shrink from the stare of highly respectable people, and the shoulder-shrugging of the man in the street, who, if he had been among them would probably have interpreted his proceeding as an unnecessary piece of theatrical samaritanism. ‘The incident, it should be mentioned, happened just after his ordination ; he was dressed in his new clerical clothes ; that it was in mid-Victorian times, a decade before General Booth had issued his book In Darkest England, awakening our consciences to our responsibilities to the fallen and outcast, and long before ‘‘ slumming ”’ became a fashion. In one of the primmest parts of residential Black- heath, one late afternoon, at the hour when the stream of City W. W. CASSELS. When Curate at All Saints’ Church, South Lambeth. To face fage 30 is ‘ae ve iia? re ‘2 9 r THE CALL OF THE CITY eu men were returning to their villas, and otherwise people were most about, I met him taking the arm of an old woman, not the great lady she might have been with the care with which he was conducting her, but one of the saddest specimens of the sex that could be imagined, hardly more than an unsteady bundle of filthy rags, wobblingly crowned with what might have been a bonnet a dozen years before, and in a beastly state of drunkenness. I remonstrated with him, and offered to find a policeman, our natural protector from disorder, nuisance, and unseemliness ; but he quietly motioned me out of the way, and right down Maze Hill he steered the poor thing to her slum in East Greenwich. I would here remark that William was always particular about his clothes, and person, and this close proximity with loathsomeness must have occasioned in him physical feelings of nausea. Captain Albert Larking, now the well-known Secre- tary of the Early Closing Association, to whom we are indebted for the loan of some copies of the Parish Magazine ! of those days, has also sent some interesting recollections, from which the following paragraphs are taken : He It was in November, 1883, that I came to London and on the first Sunday evening found myself in All Saints’ Church, South Lambeth, and for the first time heard that faithful servant of Christ, the Rev. Allen Edwards, then in the height of his power and popularity. One of his three Curates was Mr. Cassels, and it was to his charge the Vicar handed me on my presenting myself for the work as a Sunday School teacher. I can see him new, a dark, thick-set young man, full of life and energy, and possessing a very earnest zeal for his life’s work. We became friends at once, and one of the very happy memories of those days were the Sunday afternoon teas we had together in his lodgings in one of the unattractive streets of South Lambeth (153 Hartington Road). He was the Clerical Superintendent of the many Sunday Schools attached to All Saints’, the total number of children attending then being three thousand. His dominating personality over the big rough lads had a marked effect on their unruly spirits. But he would stand no nonsense from them if they challenged his authority. Notwithstanding his brief term of work at All Saints’, he 1 The South Lambeth Record and All Saints’ and St. Augustine’s Parish Magazine. 32 BISHOP CASSELS undoubtedly left his mark on those who came under his spell. I remember his great interest in the costers in Wandsworth Road. ‘They came to him on Friday to borrow money to stock their barrows for Saturday’s market. Instead of lending them money, which might have been spent in drink that night, he arranged to go with them to Covent Garden—often before daybreak on Saturday morning—to purchase fruit, flowers, and vegetables. And he was proud of the honesty of these men in paying him back the money borrowed. His great factor in life was undoubtedly in “‘ the power of prayer ’’, and Mr. Cassels seldom visited any home, rich or poor, without he and those whom he visited spending some portion of the time in prayer. He won our affections, but what is more, he taught us that to live was not simply to scramble into Heaven ourselves, but that the whole earth was the Lord’s, and to the whole earth His Kingdom must be preached. In addition to these snapshots, with their almost photographic detail, we happily are able to turn to the pages of the Parish Magazine itself for further in- formation. Fach issue of the magazine is prefaced with a calendar for the month, and these give the fixtures for each day and reveal a vast scope of work. But a few extracts from the Parish Notes will best bring us into touch with those days of more than forty years ago. ‘Thus we read: There were twenty-one baptisms and six hundred and ninety-two communicants at All Saints’ in December (1883), and one hundred and eighty-one communicants at St. Aug- ustine’s, The Sunday School continues to increase. A new Infants’ School will be commenced early in January. Another serious and fatal accident has occurred at Nine Elms. ‘Two men, named West and Isaacs, were run over by an engine on Friday, the 21st. West was killed on the spot and Isaacs had both his feet amputated. They were both South Lambeth men, and a deputation of railway men have asked the Vicar to preach a sermon in reference to the event. The sermon will be preached on January 6th. A Christmas dinner was given in The Institute to two THE CALL OF THE CITY 33 hundred and sixty-six people, who otherwise would have been without one ; . . . it is in contemplation to give a tea to eight hundred adults early in January ; and seventeen hundred All Saints’ Sunday School children will be regaled with tea and amusements before the end of the month. There was a midnight service on New Year’s eve at All Saints’, St. Augustine’s, and St. Gabriel’s Mission. The sermon at All Saints’ was preached by the Vicar, that at St. Augustine’s by the Rev. W. W. Cassels, and that at St. Gabriel’s Mission by the Rev. John B. Chandler, Vicar of Witley. These are but a few items in one issue. Let us turn these time-stained pages, and glean a few more facts. In the same number we find the report of a drawing-room meeting, presided over by the Rev. W. W. Cassels, held on behalf of the Spanish and Portuguese Church Aid Society, when the Rev. Juan B. Cabrera, Bishop-elect of the Reformed Spanish Church, spoke. Without giving further details the concluding paragraph of this report will suffice to show the link William Cassels desired to retain with the land of his birth. Mr. Cassels is on the London Committee of this excellent Society, and will be pleased to supply collecting cards or boxes to any who will interest themselves in the great work. . . . We have a great home mission work to do in South Lambeth, but we must not forget the work abroad, but bear it in our re- membrance, mention it in our prayer, think of it in our alms- giving. We specially commend this Society to our readers. They may hear something further about it from All Saints’ pulpit before long. In another issue we find a full page, evidently written during the month of August, 1884, bearing the well- known initials W. W. C., from which article some lines must be quoted. South Lambeth has gone from home, the houses bear a melancholy aspect, the churches are not exactly crammed, the streets are destitute of life and animation. D 34 BISHOP CASSELS South Lambeth may be very largely found at Ramsgate, at Brighton, and at Eastbourne. We have heard of it in Devon- shire, in Cornwall, and in the Isle of Wight. And that part which has not gone so far is strolling about Battersea Park, drinking tea at Greenwich, or picking hops in Kent. | South Lambeth has gone for a holiday; but how sadly that word has lost its meaning. Would that every holiday were once more a holy day, with ‘‘ Holiness to the Lord” written on all its moments. ‘Too often the world’s leisure time is the busy season with the powers below. . . . In these days of high pressure a great deal more calm waiting before God is needed, and there is no better place for this than the open field, or the hillside, consecrated by our Lord’s example to this very purpose. But South Lambeth must come back again. Holiday and rest and quiet are but means to an end. . . . South Lambeth must come down from the mountain side, strengthened by its glimpses of the Heavenly world, to do the work which awaits it down below. As we turn a few more pages we come across a sermon preached by the Rev. W. W. Cassels on the two texts, ‘‘ am the Light of the world’’, and “ Arise, shine, for thy light is come’”’. After referring to light being able to pass through the most polluted medium undefiled and undefilable, he closes his discourse with some practical words on shining, which are suggestive of his own character. As to the modes of shining, he said, (1) Shine steadily. A flickering light is most unpleasant and may be dangerous. [Here illustrations are given from dangerous roads and pre- cipices when the lantern flickers, which he certainly would experience in later life in China.] Oh, how much harm we do by the unsteadiness of our light. Nobody can trust us. We can be of no real service to any benighted traveller. . . . (3) Shine in proportion to opportunity. ‘‘ Be a lamp in the chamber if you cannot be a star in the sky. Gladden the home circle if you cannot illuminate the town.”’ We have not all great opportunities, but we can all do something. We can weep with the mourner if we cannot relieve him; we can bestow personal service if we cannot give gold; we can be a support to the household if we cannot be a pillar in the church ; THE CALL OF THE CITY 35 we can teach children in the Sunday School if we cannot preach to hundreds of men and women. Dear brother, you may be hidden away in a little corner, unknown to the world, but oh, illuminate that obscure spot, and see that your rays penetrate the darkness. He was not speaking about what he did not attempt to do himself. Into the dark and sometimes sorrowing homes of the people he would go carrying the radiance of the Gospel story and of his own enjoyment of it. And sometimes in the least likely quarter he would find some one who was seeking to gladden the home if he could not illuminate the town. Of one such who was “‘ spreading sheer joy’ in the sick chamber his brother Herbert has written : I remember at South Lambeth he took me to see one of the happiest faces I have ever seen. It was that of a poor cripple lying on his back on a bed from which he never got up. He was working at a shawl or something of that sort with as bright a face as ever I expect to see this side of Jordan. But Cassels’ stay at Lambeth was to be but short. For long he had thought of the foreign field, and now its call had become insistent. The duty of shining in the dark and obscure places constrained him to launch forth. In the following letter, treasured by one of his parishioners, we find evidence that he was still in close touch with his old school-fellow, Stanley Smith: 153 HARTINGTON Roap, july 16th, 1884. My pDEaR WILLIE—I hope you will have a very happy and pleasant holiday ; and come back much refreshed and strength- ened. We shall be glad to see you amongst us again. Where do you propose going ° Did you get anyone for your class in the afternoons, or 1 Mr. William Hayes, now Accountant of the C.I.M., Newington Green, London, 36 BISHOP CASSELS shall I get one of our substitutes ? I value your help down at Hemans Street so much, and I wish you could be with us when Stanley Smith comes (28th). May God go with you and be with you.—Your affectionate friend, Wn. W. CassgLs. Here we get into touch with the growth of the well- known Cambridge Band, and some extracts from a recent letter from Stanley Smith will recall one part of that story. From February 3-17, 1884, I held a Mission at Clapham Conference Hall with E. J. Kennedy of the Y.M.C.A. who afterwards was ordained in the Church of England. “ Will ”’ (as I have called him for long years) was then a curate under Canon Allen Edwards, and lived not far from the Hall; he used to come nightly, and after the meeting we had some arm in arm walks and heart to heart talks about the Lord and China, to which country I was going. His interest in China began then. On July 28th my diary reads :—‘‘ Went to Cassels, 153 Hartington Road . . . went out and sang on the streets, and then addressed different groups, they seemed very much im- pressed ; afterwards we swept into a room, and | trust some nine or ten decided for Christ ; had an interesting talk with Cassels, he is much interested in China. May the Lord send him out with me!” Within a month the decision came and the answer to that prayer. The following entry is on August 18th. ‘‘ Went down to see Cassels at Lambeth. Had a nice talk at lunch, went with him to the church, had an hour’s blessed waiting on the Lord, the Lord drew near, I trust he now sees his way definitely to go out to China.” As a fact, he decided then. As a churchman Cassels’ original intention was to go out under the Church Missionary Society. He therefore offered himself to that Board, but as he expressed a strong desire for work in inland China he was told that they were not then prepared to start another Mission in the far interior. But Cassels was too much on fire with missionary zeal to be turned THE CALL OF THE CITY yi back, and therefore approached the China Inland Mission, by which Mission D. E. Hoste and Stanley Smith had already been accepted. The thought of his going abroad was a sore trial to his widowed mother, for of her seven sons he was the only one left to her in England. In her distress she visited Pyrland Road, and remonstrated with Mr. Hudson Taylor. In his kind and considerate way he comforted her by saying that to him a parent’s wishes were sacred, and if she really was opposed to her son going to China the Mission would not en- courage him to do so. At the same time we may be sure Mr. Taylor earnestly prayed that the mother might not stand in her son’s way, if he had heard God’s call. And such prayerful sympathy was not in vain, for ere many days had passed the following letter was received by Mr. Taylor : BANK HOUSE, PONTYPRIDD, SOUTH WALES, 1st October 1884. Dear Mr. TayLor—Having mentioned the subject already to you I feel that I must say another word, though it’s more in reference to myself than to my son. But it is so evident that he sees it to be his duty and his privilege to enter upon the Chinese Mission work, that I should only take the part of a bad Mother to one of the best of sons if I continued to put thorns in his sufficiently difficult road by urging him to take any other course,—so I must follow, for I could not have led to the course he feels he is led to, and I will try and claim God’s gracious promises for him, and for all your work at large. —Very truly yours, E. CAssELs. And we are told by one of the family that his mother never regretted her decision. With his mother’s blessing obtained Cassels now offered to the China Inland Mission, was accepted, 38 BISHOP CASSELS and commenced at once to prepare for work abroad. On November 8 his farewell meeting was held in the parish of South Lambeth, when a presentation was made him of two medicine chests, one a portable one for travelling, and the other a more substantial one for station use. In acknowledging these gifts and the kind words spoken by eleven persons who voiced the feelings of the people, Cassels, speaking under evident emotion, said : My dear friends, none of you know the difficulty of speaking on such occasions as this. No one knows how utterly words go away and ideas vanish. I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for the great kindness you have shown in giving me these very handsome and useful articles. I am thankful you have chosen things which will be useful and materially help me in my work. I again thank you for your tribute of love from the bottom of my heart . . . I deserve, as is well- known, nothing at all at your hands, and I do think it exceed- ingly kind of you... . I never can tell you the lessons I have learned, and how wonderfully God has blessed me in my soul. I have learned many things of which I was previously ignorant altogether in my labour together with you all. Dear fellow-workers, I feel it difficult to part with you—utterly greater than many of you imagine—for the tie is so close between us that it will be a very great wrench in one sense, and yet in another it will be very little, as I feel we are not separated altogether. . . . You know my heart even though I cannot speak the words. We know each other so well that you must forgive me for my stammering utterances. Nothing can separate us from the love of God and the Blood which was shed for us—nothing can break that tie, thank God. On the following Sunday, November 9, Cassels preached his farewell sermon. But though he said farewell the bond of love was not to be broken, for a band of praying friends was formed, and the stirring appeals which he later sent home from the field so fanned the flame of interest in the hearts of these that THE CALL OF THE CITY 39 within the next five years six! of them followed him to China, one of whom, Miss Mary Louisa Legg, became his wife. But the story of his last few weeks in England must be reserved for another chapter. 1 Miss M. L. Legg, one of the Fountain Street Boys’ teachers ; Miss E. Culverwell followed ; then Miss Bastone, a worker in the same school as Miss Legg; then Mr. J. N. Hayward, a lay-worker in the parish and superintendent of one of the Sunday Schools; then Miss F. Culverwell, and Miss Martin, afterwards Mrs. J. N. Hayward. THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field ; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field_— ST. MATTHEW Xill. 44. WE have now reached a point where the life of William Cassels was caught up by and became part of a remark- able spiritual and missionary movement, which swept through many of the churches and universities of Great Britain, stirring the hearts and minds of thou- sands. We cannot isolate his story from the story of the Missionary Band of which he became a member. That Band must therefore occupy our attention throughout this chapter. It is unhappily quite impossible to-day by the medium of cold print to convey to the reader any adequate sense of the glow and gladness of the mis- sionary enthusiasm which, towards the close of 1884 and the beginning of 1885, swept like a wave over many parts of England and Scotland, through the going forth of “The ‘Cambridge Seven”. This enthusiasm was only part of a greater work of grace which had preceded it and of which it was born. Directly and indirectly through the Missions of Moody in Cambridge, Brighton, London, and elsewhere, the way had been prepared for this outburst of missionary zeal. In the preceding chapter we have already stated 40 THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN AI that D. E. Hoste, Stanley Smith, and William Cassels had offered to the China Inland Mission. As early as November, 1884, it was announced in China’s Millions that Mr. Hudson Taylor hoped to sail for China in December with this band of three, but war in the Far East between China and France, and the deep interest aroused at home, both called for a brief delay. Early in November C. TT. Studd joined the band, then Montagu Beauchamp, and ere the party sailed, the two brothers Cecil and Arthur Polhill- Turner. Extraordinary enthusiasm was aroused throughout the country, and especially among the students at the Universities, by the personnel of the party. Meetings were held in Liverpool, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock, Newcastle, Leeds, Rochdale, Manchester, Bristol, and at Oxford, Cambridge, and London, to which no description can do justice. At Edinburgh professors and students were seen together in tears, and in the after meetings there was the uncommon sight of professors dealing with students and students with one another. There is, perhaps, no better way of bringing the reader into touch with those days themselves than by quoting what was written by Dr. Eugene Stock, in his fascinating history of the Church Missionary Society : One of the most important events of the period, he wrote, was both a fruit, indirectly, of Moody’s work, and a fruitful parent of other and larger movements. ‘This was the going forth of the famous “‘ Cambridge Seven” to China. Extraordinary interest was aroused in the Autumn of 1884 by the announcement that the Captain of the Cambridge Eleven and the stroke oar of the Cambridge boat were going out as missionaries. ‘These were Mr. C. 'T. Studd and Mr. Stanley Smith ; and very soon they were joined by five others, viz., the Rev. W. W. Cassels, curate of All Saints’, Lambeth; Mr. 42 BISHOP CASSELS Montagu Beauchamp, a nephew of Lord Radstock, and also well-known as a rowing man; Mr. D. E. Hoste, an officer in the Royal Artillery ; and Messrs. C. H. and A. T. Polhill- Turner, sons of a late M.P. for Bedford, the former an officer in the 6th Dragoon Guards, and the latter a Ridley Hall theological student, and both of them prominent Eton and Cambridge cricketers. Mr. Studd’s dedication of himself to the mission-field, and Mr. Hoste’s conversion to God, were direct results of Moody’s Missions in London and Brighton. The influence of such a band of men going to China as missionaries 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—for 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 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 Meeting 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 same type, but it was a new thing then. Though the weather was tempestuous and rain came down in sheets, the platform, area, galleries, and every nook and corner of Exeter Hall were crowded to their utmost capacity. Sir George Williams presided, and each member of the out-going band addressed the erowded company, but we must limit our quotation to a report of what were the last words spoken in public by William Cassels ere he sailed for China. Mr. Cassels said he was talking the other day to a man in a railway train who had travelled in China. He was one of those people who considered that every religion was of about the same value, and when he heard he (the speaker) was going THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN 43 to China to preach the Gospel there he thought it was a most presumptuous thing to do. He proceeded to say how wise and clever the Chinese were, and he told him that all his argu- ments would be defeated. He felt at the time that, from his point of view, this man was distinctly right; but there was one consideration which he did not bring to bear when he was speaking, and it was that which made all the difference. They were going to China because they knew that the Gospel was the power of God unto salvation. Thank God, they knew that was not merely theory or speculation. ‘They were going because they knew it was so by experience. They had not only themselves tried that Gospel, but they had seen its power in others. ‘They had seen the sinner turned from his evil ways, they had seen a drunkard turned from his evil course, and they had also seen a strong man bowed in tears under the conviction of the truth. They had likewise seen weak women strengthened, and go out to do heroic deeds, because they believed in the Lord. They therefore knew the power of God; and He had no less power in China than He had in England. Their expectations were very great, and they knew they would not be disappointed. ‘They felt certain that they would see the Chinese turn to God just as the sinner did in England when the Gospel was applied to their hearts. What an im- measurable power of good there would be if all those present were to rise as one man and speak the Word of God! But if they believed in God, why should they not do His work ? They wanted more heroism in their religion. They wanted to be inspired with the idea that the religion of Jesus Christ was a battle, and they must join in the warfare and go for- ward. But, alas! how few they were who joined in the warfare! ‘They read in the Bible of Reuben, who preferred attending to his sheep and his country village to the danger of war; of Gilead, who would not risk the passage of the Jordan ; and also of Dan, who was engaged in his commerce. All those things were being enacted now. ‘There were to be found many who preferred their own affairs to encountering the difficulties of preaching the Gospel in heathen lands. The battle was going on, and still the Lord was crying for helpers to go to the help of the Lord against the mighty. ‘Thank God some came. But, alas! how many there were who still held aloof. ‘There were still Reubens in that very gathering, who preferred their ease and comfort to the work of God. There were Gileads and Dans, who preferred attending to their own affairs rather than serve the Lord. Oh, for shame, 44 BISHOP CASSELS that He Who gave His own life on the Cross should still be crying for helpers. God had said again and again, “‘ Be strong and of good courage ”’, so why should they shelter themselves under their own fears and weaknesses. He had no pity for the man who starved himself when there was food to eat, and no pity for the woman who talked about her weaknesses when God had placed power at her disposal. He had no sympathy with the invalid Christians, because God had power at their disposal. If there were any present who were in a state of inactivity, the Lord was speaking to them, and saying, Arise from that inactivity—as He was calling for helpers. It is not part of our story to follow the influence of this movement at home. It must suffice to say that at Cambridge alone forty men at one meeting dedicated themselves to the missionary cause, and many did the same elsewhere. It certainly was used of God to prepare the way in Great Britain for the Student Volunteer Movement, which came into being soon after. The manifest joy of these men in leaving all to follow Christ was contagious. Their’s was no re- luctance in obeying Christ, but rather an overmastering passion. Like the Apostle Paul, Cassels and his companions counted all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. What it cost Cassels to leave his mother, and what it cost his mother to surrender her son may be gathered from a letter she wrote him on the last Sunday night they were together, a letter he treasured till the day of his death. Sunday night, February ist, 1885. My DEAREST WILLIAM—I want to say some last words to you, but words seem to fail me. Nothing of my own is sufficient either for myself or for you, nothing but the sure Word of promise will do, and you seem to me like a sacred thing, taken from us, and upon which I must not put a hand, or tie any cord, even of love, to hinder you. May God not THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN 45 despise the feebleness of my faith in giving you, and may we still not feel separated, but meet together before the Throne of Grace. I want to go to Him to supply all my need, here in our own home. I want blessings, true and real, to come down on the dear sisters here, and in their work around them... . For you, my son, the many promises we have in Old and New Testament that—‘* I will be with thee ’’—seem the most supporting, to Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, and many others, and through faith they obtained the promises. . . . There will be strength for you and comfort for me in all the many, many promises and Words of God, which He has given us. You must lay your head, in the time of trouble and when you stand alone amidst idolaters, in ‘‘ His pavilion ”’, and He will set you on a rock, “ secretly in His pavilion from the strife of tongues ”’. Oh, may no man set on thee to hurt thee. May the Lord keep you, my boy, tender and well beloved, as you have been to me. My pillows may be taken from you, and cannot do you much service, but “ the Lord shall cover you all the day long’ and you shall dwell between His shoulders. I cannot tell you all I feel for you. Oh pray that I may not be found with a starless crown at the last. Ye all are my crown and my rejoicing. May it be so. I am glad friends pray for me as well as for you——Ever your loving Mother, absent though present, ETHELINDA CASSELS. wut itd Ai PART “ITI EARLY DAYS IN NORTH CHINA 47 Ah, it was no easy march, no holiday pageant, the coming of the Son of God into this world of ours. He came to save sinners. Not to help good men—this were a grateful task ; but to redeem bad men—the hardest work in God’s universe. It tasked the strength and the devotion of the Son of God. Witness Gethsemane. And it will cost His Church something, more haply than we dream of now, if the work of the Redeemer is to be made effectual, and the travail of His soul satisfied —G. G. FInpLay. 48 GOD FIRST Whoso hath felt the Spirit of the Highest Cannot confound nor doubt Him nor deny ; Yea, with one voice, O World, tho’ thou deniest, Stand thou on that side, for on this am I. Peay. tL. MYERS. ON the morning of February 5, 1885, the morrow of the farewell meeting—a day ever memorable for its announcement of General Gordon’s death—Cassels bade farewell to his mother and loved ones, and with the other members of the Missionary Band set forth for China. Leaving Victoria they travelled overland via Brindisi and Alexandria to join their ship, the Katsar-1-Hind, at Suez. All their heavy luggage had long since gone on board, and Cassels’ baggage was so labelled that there was no mistaking the master passion of the man. In bold block capitals he had had printed, in red, on large labels the two words “‘ Gop First’’, and these were conspicuously pasted on all his belongings. His zeal and love were all ablaze and could not be hid. Such labels—*‘ stamps ”’ he called them—heralded on board, long before the party arrived, the spirit of the men who were coming, while among the parishioners in South Lambeth these two words long lived as the farewell message of their beloved friend. For many years to come this motto was to be found framed and hung in the homes of the parish. “God First”?! It was this that constrained him 49 E 50 BISHOP CASSELS to leave England, and it was this that was henceforth to dominate his whole life. And nothing ever dulled the edge of this devotion. Forty years of toil in a pagan land, amid untoward conditions, tested but never quenched this first love. ‘To the end he was always keen and ardent, never luke-warm. The blessing experienced at home continued on the voyage, the power of God to save being manifest by some striking conversions among passengers and crew. One of the more remarkable cases was that of a captain whose Godless conduct had been notorious. Not only was he soundly converted, but he became as pronounced a witness for Christ as previously he had been antagon- istic. ‘Chere was in consequence no small stir on board, and many accepted Christ as Lord. One previously sceptical passenger wrote: We expected no end of fun in quizzing them (the Missionary party), intending to patronise their singing as a polite con- cession to mistaken enthusiasm. So with that in view, when the first evening came, we gathered round, but when we heard the deep swelling notes in which they so earnestly sang “‘ Christ receiveth sinful men’, and after a few stirring words of earnest appeal, went on in a gentle solo with those simple words, “ Let the dear Master come in’’, it seemed to touch even the most callous. ‘Tears would come into the eyes of many. . . . So were the evenings spent, singing ending about Io P.M., but not their work. Nor was this all. At the various ports of call Christian friends, anxious to buy up the brief hours of the ship’s visit, had arranged for local gatherings, that they too might be brought into touch with this work of God. At length on Wednesday, March 18, Shanghai was reached, and the party received a warm welcome to the Land of Sinim by Hudson Taylor himself, though he, being dressed in Chinese costume, was not recog- nised at first. GOD FIRST SI It is always a great moment for any man when he first sets foot upon the foreign shore for which he has forsaken the land of his fathers. Happily there are some of Cassels’ letters still preserved which reveal his thoughts at that impressive hour. Writing to his mother on the day of arrival he begins : Here we are, dearest Mother, brought by our Heavenly Father’s wonderful love and goodness in perfect safety to this dear country. How full my heart is this evening at the thought of really being in China! How great are the longings which rise up that I may in all things be faithful and true to Him Who Himself never fails! But resolutions and vows are use- less unless we also cast ourselves completely on Him “* Who ts able to keep us from falling and present us faultless”’,etc. ‘The secret of the command, “ Be strong”’ is always in the “| am with you’. Three days later he writes his mother again ; this time a lengthy epistle with descriptions of the Mission Home, of the Chinese city, and of Archdeacon Moule’s call and escort to see some Christian work, etc. The dominant notes are, however, revealed by the two following paragraphs : But oh! how my heart goes up to God at the sight of these crowds of Chinamen, that He would raise up His power and come among us, that He would speedily flood this place with a very tidal wave of blessing! And why not? If there are tidal waves in nature which completely flow over whole districts, why not a tidal wave in grace ? I have been feasting lately on those wonderful promises in St. John. ‘“‘ Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst”’, and “‘ He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst’. Never hunger and never thirst! Oh, how blessed to think that all through what might otherwise be dreary journeys in China, and solitary days and weeks, I shall never hunger and never thirst. There will be perpetual satisfaction and per- petual streams of never-failing water! How glorious! ‘The Lord is a never-failing portion. 52 BISHOP CASSELS Similar sentiments occur in letters to other friends, such as this: It may well be imagined that it was with very full hearts that we set foot for the first time upon the soil of this dear country to which the Lord has called us. What, it may be asked, was the first thought that entered our minds as we walked through these streets and gazed upon the number of Chinese that met us at every turn? I answer at once, it was an almost overwhelming thought of the enormous work which has to be done. . . . We felt more than ever that nothing but a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God can be of any use. That God’s Spirit was outpoured was speedily manifest in Shanghai and elsewhere. Perhaps the most striking illustration of this in Shanghai was given by the British chaplain, who was in charge of the cathedral. So great a change came into his life at this time that he called it his conversion. He publicly acknowledged that, though he had in the past honestly sought to do his duty, and had, he believed, preached the truth as he then knew it, he had never until that day been able to commit his own soul wholly to the Saviour’s care. Such words from the British chaplain came upon Shanghai almost like a thunderbolt, and produced a great impression. After a week of special meetings the band of seven donned Chinese costume and prepared for residence inland. Messrs. C. and A. Polhill (Turner) and C. T. Studd travelled up the Yangtze and Han rivers with the city of Hanchung in the north-west as their destination, while Messrs. Cassels, Hoste, and Stanley Smith, under the able escort of Mr. F. W. Baller, left by sea for the north en route to Shansi. For a time Mr. Beauchamp remained behind in Shanghai, subsequently following the northern party. The reasons for thus dividing and travelling by GOD FIRST 53 different routes are given by Cassels in a letter to his mother as follows : (1) It is not probable that the Consuls would grant passports for so large a number to go together inland. (2) Even if they would it would probably be unwise in the present state of the country to attempt to travel in one party. (3) By thus dividing it is hoped that we may be able to visit a large number of Mission stations, get a good idea of the work, and bring refreshment to the solitary missionaries that we hope to visit. Both at Tientsin and Peking Cassels, Hoste, and Stanley Smith enjoyed a continuance of the times of blessing experienced elsewhere. Indeed, if anything, the days in Peking were more noteworthy. Of the journey to the capital and of their experi- ences Cassels wrote a long and graphic account to his mother, which must be quoted almost in full. PEKING, May ist, 1885. My pEAREST MotHer—I might write a great deal about Peking, and at considerable length also of the way we spend our time here, and of the quite remarkable movement among the dear missionaries here ; but as I have made it a rule to write a sort of journal to you (the only one indeed I keep), and as I know you like to hear about all my movements and travels, it would be better for me perhaps to go back to where [ left off in my last hurried letter written from Tientsin on Monday, 20th April. I believe I told you that God manifestly blessed the work amongst the little English community there (at Tientsin), and this indeed was to be expected when one observed the spirit of prayer and expectation that prevailed among the Christians. Did I tell you that one gentleman who was connected with an opium business was led to send in his resignation, feeling his occupation not to be free from sin, and to come out very decidedly on the side of our Blessed Master ? and that the work also extended to the Chinese Medical Students there who speak English ? We did not get away from Tientsin much before noon on Tuesday, 21st. 54 BISHOP CASSELS Two of the little carts which are so commonly used about here, drawn by two mules each, tandem fashion, took our luggage and bedding and left room for one of us on each cart, on a sort of seat there is on the shaft, one side of which is occupied by the driver. ‘The vehicles remind me much of the Portuguese ox-carts, but are much better finished and have a cover (under which, if there is no luggage, two people can just sit crossed-legged or on a pillow). Having passed through the Chinese city of Tientsin we struck out into the country, two of us walking and two of us riding. Sometimes the road was simply a track across ploughed fields, but even when there was a distinct or so-called road the jolting was—well—let us say most amusing. We got accus- tomed to it by and by, but at first it was certainly a remarkable experience. Before dark we reached a town some twenty miles from 'Tientsin, and put up in the inn for the night. ‘The inns in this part of China are said to be much better than in the south, and for ourselves we were exceedingly comfortable. You enter by a gate into a good sized courtyard, all round which are rooms or sheds. ‘The mules, donkeys and carts, etc., are deposited in the yard or under the sheds, and the travellers take possession of the rooms. At the furthest end are the chief rooms—the most private—which are reserved for the better class travellers. ‘These were our quarters, two rooms leading into one another with a brick sort of arrangement, of which you have heard, for beds, giving plenty of room for two or three to sleep in each, a table and two chairs. Having called for water and washed in our own wooden bowls, we got off some of the dust and then sat down to feast on the provisions our kind friends at Tientsin had put up for us in such large quantities. If I were to tell you what we had for our meal you would say that we had exchanged plenty at home for prodigality out here: and that instead of coming to hardships we had come to luxuries. It is true that we had had no meal since an early breakfast, and that we had been in the open air all day, but even for four hungry men in this condition eight snipe, two chickens, several loaves of bread, some cake, and a pot of marmalade, washed down by plenty of tea, Chinese fashion, was a most sumptuous meal; was it not? Having finished our food, eaten by the way not with chop-sticks but with knives and forks which fond mothers or other thoughtful friends had made some of us bring with us, we gave thanks to our Heavenly Father for all His continued goodness to us, meditated for a while on His Word, commended ourselves afresh to Him, and GOD FIRST 55 lay down on our comfortable bedding and were very soon, I can tell you, fast asleep. The next morning (Wednesday, April 11) one of the drivers called us at 2 A.M. Having dressed and put together our bedding we got some hot water and made some cocoa from a packet which a dear mother had put into a son’s bag, and also finished up some chocolate which was found by its side. Then having united in prayer we were ready to start about 3 A.M. The reason for such an early start was that we wanted, if possible, to get to ‘Tungchow, some forty miles distant, where the American Board have a Mission Station. It was a fine starry night, and though at first we were rather sleepy, when after an hour or two the soft morning light began to steal across the sky and showed up the fields around us, we were refreshed and went forward with new vigour. The country all along the route was monotonous and un- interesting, and there was not much danger of our getting so engrossed with nature as to forget nature’s God. There were no hedges, but very occasionally a mud wall or a rushwork barrier formed a partition. In the villages the houses were made of mud bricks. Several of these characteristics reminded me much of the dry table- land of Spain over which I travelled once with Herbert. Do not, however, be led to judge of other parts of China by what I have said of this. At about 11 A.M. we stopped at an inn and, whilst the mules and carters were feeding, took our own breakfast, again using provisions which we had brought with us. It is quite possible to get very excellent food at these inns, but our friends at Tientsin had filled us up so bountifully that we reconciled ourselves to our fate and continued to feed in the fashion and on the food of the barbarians of the Western lands, instead of satisfying our longing to turn Chinamen at once. I cannot say, however, that we did not do full justice to an excellent piece of beef and some good bread we had with us. After an hour’s delay or more we started again and before long, Stanley Smith and Hoste, who had done most of the walking in the morning, having become footsore, we hired two donkeys in a village for which we paid less than one penny a mile each, and all set forward mounted, but still only at a walking pace. That evening we again put up at a Chinese inn, and on the Thursday morning after three hours travelling got to the Mission houses, where we were most kindly received by Mr. and Mrs. Sheffield, Mr. and Mrs. Beach, and the other 56 BISHOP CASSELS missionaries. A very interesting day was spent with them ; in the afternoon a meeting of the Chinese Christians was arranged and we spoke by interpretation, and in the evening had a Bible reading. We were especially interested in going over the School and Theological College. In the latter there is a class of eight young Chinamen, the sons of Chinese Christians, who are very shortly going to be sent out as Evangelists or Pastors. One of them can say the whole New Testament through. ‘The Chinese cultivate reciting very much, and so it is very easy for them to repeat long passages. The next morning (Friday) we set out again with carts and donkeys to do the fifteen or twenty miles which separated us from Peking. I have written all this because I thought you would like to know something about our travelling, etc., but I want now to hasten on to tell you something about our work here. The only people besides the missionaries and their families are those ernployed at the Legation or those at the Chinese Customs, which are conducted under English management, so that the numbers attending our evening Evangelistic services, which have been carried on every night, have only averaged some forty or fifty, but even here good work has been done. But the remarkable work has been amongst the missionaries themselves, and has been chiefly carried on at the afternoon gatherings which have been held at the various Mission houses in the different parts of the city. I can write about it more fully since I have not had anything to do with the movement. The work is most manifestly God’s, but the instrument has been Stanley Smith. I mentioned that, when we were on board the steamer coming up to Tientsin, we were all much stirred up to spend our time in prayer for the deepening of our spiritual life and the outflowing of God’s Holy Spirit upon us. We felt that the work at Shanghai had in a measure failed owing to our want of spirituality, holiness, and power. We felt the import- ance of waiting upon our Heavenly Father to be prepared for our future work in China, and the more we prayed the more we felt our need of prayer. Hidden and unsuspected depths of iniquity were disclosed to us, we were horrified to find how much selfishness, pride, untruthfulness, want of love, etc., there was in us, and we were constrained to humble ourselves very low before our God on account of it, and to plead for inward purity as well as for power. We also (led very largely by our dear brother Stanley) were brought to see how much GOD FIRST 57 larger and wider the Old and New Testament promises were than we had supposed, and that our Blessed Lord must have been grieved that we had not pleaded His promises and striven to attain to what was for us. We saw, too, how much of all this was contained in what is called “ the promise of the Father’, the great gift of the Holy Spirit, not in the measure in which He is given to all Christians, but in that fulness which was promised by our Lord and in which He was received (often after a period of waiting) by the early Church. So important did this waiting upon God appear to Stanley Smith, that for two of the days we were at 'Tientsin he felt it right to shut himself up and devote himself to prayer entirely, so that I was left, as I hinted in one of my letters, to carry on our work alone, and was much helped by God in doing so. When we came on here our great need of a fuller revelation of God to our souls, and of enduement with power for our life work, was still much upon our minds, and we continued and have been continuing much in prayer about it, spending almost all our spare time before God. Some afternoon meetings for the deepening of spiritual life having been suggested and arranged for, Stanley Smith took up this line of truth, and each day has been speaking to those who have assembled (missionaries and their wives) on some subject connected with the promise of the Holy Spirit in Pentecostal power to produce purity of heart and fitness for successful service. He has dwelt on the signal want of success which all missionaries feel and confess, on the tremendous difficulties which have to be encountered, and on the other hand he has shown with great power and clearness how mag- nificent are the promises of God, and the results predicted for those who avail themselves of them. After the first two or three meetings it was decided that our stay should be extended another week, and each afternoon the missionaries have been meeting in large numbers from 3 to 5 P.M. for prayer and to hear further on this subject. As a present and evident result one missionary (a lady) has been led to see after a long period of struggle, and to confess openly in the meetings, that she had never yielded herself to God, or really been converted and received a change of heart ; one or two others have testified to renewed awakenings after considerable backsliding of heart (or second conversions, as it has been termed); and others have stood up to witness to renewed consecration, to fresh views of the Lord Jesus Christ, to unaccustomed peace, to unexampled zeal and devotion to their work. 58 BISHOP CASSELS And we have all been stirred up to count not ourselves to have apprehended, but diligently to press toward the mark, to seek that we may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and above all to cry mightily to God that we may in a real sense which we have never experienced before “‘ Be filled with the Spirit’, and as a result that rivers of living water may, according to the promise, go flowing out from us, and that we may enjoy the power we need to extend God’s Kingdom in the way He desires. There is no doubt that there is a very unusual awakening amongst the missionaries; and I can say this all the more decidedly as I have only followed in the wake of the movement, and have moved along no faster than my conservative and cautious nature has allowed me to do. I would like to write much more fully on this subject but time does not permit at present, though I may have a further opportunity. I feel the importance just now especially of giving as much time as possible to prayer and communion with our Heavenly Father. God bless and keep all you dear ones. Won. W. CassELs. The preceding letter may be thought by some to show the excessive zeal of a young enthusiast. It is well, therefore, that we can refer to the sober judgment of a veteran worker. Of this visit to China’s capital the Rev. Joseph Edkin, D.D., one of the senior and most respected of missionaries, wrote under date of May 3, 1885 : The new religious life of England has come to us as a salutary purifying breeze. We have felt ourselves uplifted and revived. Some have undertaken a determined work of heart- searching and prayer for spiritual elevation. Some have felt converted after a previous life of cold religion. Some have accepted Christ as a personal Saviour after long hesitation extending through years of attendance on Christian worship. . . . [The crust of conventional precedent and reluctance has been broken through at our meetings, and the tongues of those who have been blessed have been set free to speak of God’s goodness. Such meetings I have never known in China. I take it as a sign that the revival wave is beating on the Chinese shore. The young and the middle-aged have alike felt deep im- GOD FIRST 59 pressions. Last night we had a Baptismal and Communion service. A father and his eldest daughter received Baptism and partook of the Lord’s Supper. The Rev. James Gilmour (the famous missionary to Mongolia) administered Baptism, and the Rev. W. W. Cassels Communion. . . . In the after- noon drawing-room meeting a father gave thanks for his three boys (the eldest fifteen) for their acceptance of Christ during the meetings, and in the evening these all took the Communion. . . . We quite expect that this new impulse of spiritual life will be communicated to the Chinese of the native congrega- tions. All the societies in Peking, with one exception, united in these times of refreshing, and the spiritual impetus received led a company of Peking missionaries —twenty-five in number—to issue to the whole missionary body in China an appeal for special and united prayer. In this appeal they stated that one result of the visit of these brethren was the starting of a daily noon-day prayer meeting in all their local centres, and they suggested that all missionaries in China should in like manner unite in waiting upon God. “ If we would all unite,” they wrote, “ have we not faith to believe that God would shake China with His power ? ” Seldom indeed has any company of young recruits to the mission-field been so warmly welcomed by their seniors, and seldom have any new workers entered upon their labours with such manifestations of Divine blessing. But the stern and hard realities of the foreign field were not far removed. AMONG THE HILLS OF SHANSI Yet not in solitude if Christ anear me Waketh Him workers for the great employ. Oh not in solitude, if souls that hear me Catch from my joyance the surprise of joy. F. W. H. Myers. FRoM Peking the plunge into the interior began. Now the austere and naked truths of life in Inland China confronted him after the elation and enthusiasms of past months. Such a change is a searching test for any man, nor could it be otherwise for Cassels. His late Vicar, Canon Edwards, who had had abundant opportunity of knowing, had written of him: “ He is decidedly not patient ’’, and again, ‘‘ Evangelistic work is his forte, he is fond of it, but he needs strong counsel against impatience’’. ‘To such a temperament life in Inland China could not fail to be a severe ordeal, for if any grace is needed there more than another it is patience, patience, patience, from morning till night. The first eighteen months in China were spent in the northern province of Shansi, for at that time the Mission had no Language School. Here he was to experience the painful helplessness of life among a strange people whose language he could not speak. The pent up feelings consequent upon this inability to utter his thoughts, the isolation and loss of accus- tomed friendships, and the lack of outlet for his eager energies, inevitably occasioned a reaction not easily 60 AMONG THE HILLS OF SHANSI 61 endured by an ardent temperament. How Cassels conquered and endured we shall see. The long and somewhat tedious journey from Peking to Taityuanfu, the capital of Shansi, was for the most part performed by Chinese cart under the guidance of Mr. Bagnall, then of the American Bible Society. The party consisted of Cassels, Hoste, and Stanley Smith, with their escort. Except for the journey from ‘Tientsin to Peking, already reported, this was his first experience of Chinese travel, of the rough and tumble of mountain roads, and of the indescribable Chinese inns with their provocations to entomological research. Here he would witness the sufferings of the mules as they strained and struggled up the steep ascents—here called “ The Gates of Heaven !”’—through mountain passes into the pro- vince, the name of which translated means ‘‘ West of the Mountains’ (Shan-si). ‘This was an experience altogether different to what he would become familiar with in Western China in later years, where cart roads are little known. Of the carts and the inns he wrote: “ The shaking up in the former did us a lot of good physically, and made the shaking down into the latter all the more welcome when night came on ”’, though on one occasion he remarked they “ got a not very sweet-smelling room ’’, Yet he writes: “‘ We are finding the ‘ exceed- ing abundantly’ follows us here, and we really do enjoy these times’”’. It was evident that he and his companions knew what Thomas 4 Kempis meant when he wrote, ‘‘ Love maketh every burden light and every rough place smooth. It carries burdens without being burdened, and makes all that is bitter sweet and savoury ”’. But a week or two of Chinese inns makes a Mission 62 BISHOP CASSELS Station appear a veritable palace of delights, so he would enjoy to the full the warm welcome which awaited them in the kind and hospitable home of Dr. and Mrs. Edwards at Taiyuanfu. Here for a brief spell they settled to the study of the language, while they waited for their colleague, Beauchamp, who was to follow under the escort of Mr. Baller. We arrived here [wrote Cassels from 'Taiyuanfu] on May 23rd, escorted by Mr. Bagnall of the American Bible Society, to whom we feel much indebted for his kindness. Almost at once we began work with Dr. Edwards’ teacher. We have had some evening meetings together, and have felt refreshed and strengthened by the opportunity of intercourse with our Blessed Lord and His people. . . . What a beautiful place this Taiyuanfu is. Dr. and Mrs. Edwards are so kind. The Lord reward them tenfold. We are keeping well, resting and rejoicing in Him. May He constantly lead us and teach us and constrain us to faith. After a stay of three weeks the journey was resumed, Messrs. Cassels and Stanley Smith, in company with Mr. Key, leaving for Pingyangfu on Monday, June 15, a small detour being made to visit the work of the American Board (A.B.C.F.M.) at Taiku. Of this journey Cassels wrote from Hochow: On Tuesday we were at Taiku, where the American Board have a Mission Station, the work being carried on by men from Oberlin College. Here we had some encouraging little meetings at which we spoke of the secret of a life of victory being a life of faith in the risen and ascended and indwelling Lord. . . . We left Taiku on Thursday morning early, and have since been journeying. . . . The weather has been most favourable. . . . We have passed through a most interesting country. ‘he early part of the journey the road lay amongst lovely cornfields, the wheat is turning yellow, but the maize is still young and green. Every here and there we came to beds or small fields of the opium plant. It is a beautiful flower, which adds to the beauty of the landscape; but alas! the moral aspect of this plant is anything but lovely. They are cultivating it more and more, I believe, but even here they speak of it as the foreign smoke. AMONG THE HILLS OF SHANSI 63 A long description then follows of the road, of the mountains to east and west, of the glory of the sunrise, of the river skirting the road, and of the birds which abounded. He also gives a graphic account of the gallant efforts of the brave mules to surmount the Lingshih Pass, and of the wide views thence obtained. ‘““We hope,” he concludes, “to reach Pingyangfu by Tuesday morning, and then, as soon as we can get teachers, to settle down to Chinese. Mr. Baller, with Beauchamp and Hoste, are following us, and expect to arrive before the end of the week.”’ The ancient city of Pingyangfu, where the Emperor Yao resided more than 2000 years before Christ, was reached on June 23, 1885, and there the party settled down to the serious study of the language. Of those days Cassels wrote to one of his sisters: We have reached a place where not many foreigners, besides some eight or ten China Inland Mission missionaries, have ever been. . . . The absence of other foreigners is not, how- ever, likely to make us desolate, even if we were inclined to be desolate, for now that our friends, Beauchamp and Hoste, have arrived with Mr. Baller, we are a party of six. Nor are we cast into uncomfortable quarters. There are two adjoining houses here belonging to the China Inland Mission, in which there is plenty of room for us and our servants, as well as for the Chinese Christian and his family who live on the premises. Neither are we altogether out of reach of English influence of various kinds. But we find more and more how easy it is to be independent of foreign things. After our first dinner here Stanley Smith said, ‘‘ Well, I think this is the best meal we have had since we have been in China ’”’, and as I have said so often, as for hardships, I have quite begun to despair of ever having any. A little acquaintance with flies, mosquitos, and other animals of worse description in the inns does one good, and is only what travellers for pleasure always expect in inns. . . The four of us—Beauchamp, Hoste, Stanley Smith and I— occupy three sides of one little courtyard, each of us having a room to ourselves. On the fourth side of the yard is the room which is used as the chapel. In another court Mr. Baller and Mr. Key put up, and our dining-room and kitchen are there ; and in still another lives the young Evangelist, as they 64 BISHOP CASSELS callhim. The kangs, or brick bed arrangements, under which a fire can be lighted in winter, have been removed from most of these apartments, and our bedsteads are there of another description. Mine is an unused door, stretched across two or three forms, and I assure you it makes a capital bedstead. If you know any who want to set up house cheaply, let them try this, and see if it is not an excellent substitute—easily taken to pieces too, and can be put to other purposes in the day. The two forms will do to sit on and the door can be put up as a screen lait -t3 But now you will be very much interested to know some- thing about the work going on here. The second meeting this morning was conducted by a Mr. Hsi [subsequently the well- known Pastor Hsi], a man of some position and means; he lives in a town a few miles from here. He is a Chinese Doctor of Medicine, and supports the Christians in the neighbourhood both by his means and by his own influence. He has a literary degree, which, however, was taken from him because he became a Christian. ... There are several remarkable features about the work, and above all this, that it has been very largely left in the hands of the Chinese themselves ; very little English money has been employed upon it. The work lies largely in the towns and villages around, and not in the city itself, and in these places the Christians meet in some rooms of their own which they have themselves provided with hymn-books, etc., and they are led by one of themselves ; they worship God and meditate upon His Word. Is not this encouraging ? In another letter written nearly a fortnight later he adds: Mr. Baller has secured for us one of the Christians of this city as a teacher, and we are now hard at work and delighted at any progress we are able to make. . . . We are a very happy party enjoying our work, enjoying our walks on the city walls with the views of the not distant mountains, so wonderfully lit up, as they sometimes are, by the setting sun, and enjoying so much our little gatherings for prayer and praise and study of God’s Word. How much we have to praise Him for. We have had to confess ever since we left England, “ He daily loadeth us with benefits ”’. THE CITY OF GREAT PEACE Send us this day among our fellows, Held every moment in Thine own strong friendship, To be for Thee, triumphantly, The heralds of Thy Will, Thy Word, Thy generous Love, Thy Hope, Thy Joy, Thy Might, Thy Purity, Thy Beauty. J. S. Hoy.anp. AFTER nearly three months’ residence at Pingyangfu Mr. Baller proposed that Cassels and Beauchamp should open up a new centre west of the Fen River, some three days’ journey away. ‘Though no settled missionary work had been attempted there a remarkable work of grace prevailed, to which brief reference must be made. Some seven or eight years before the time of which we write a copy of St. Mark’s Gospel had fallen into the hands of a Buddhist Bishop in the city of Taning, which, being translated, means “‘ The City of Great Peace’. He and his friend, a scholar and local school- master, became deeply interested in this little volume, and by its means gradually groped their way into the light. There being no missionary to instruct them they were shut up to the Book itself, to which, recog- nising it as a sacred volume, they began to burn incense. From this beginning they proceeded to worship Jesus and His twelve apostles, until later, after long search for help, they found a missionary who instructed them more perfectly in the things of God. 1 For the full story, see the Author’s In Quest of God. 65 F 66 BISHOP CASSELS These two men, Chang and Ch’ti, gradually gathered around them a goodly company of earnest enquirers, hoping for the day when some missionary might settle in their midst. It was at this juncture that Mr. Baller, through the good offices of a friendly official, was enabled to secure premises in Sichow—a neighbouring city of higher rank than Taning. Consequently, at the close of the summer, Messrs. Baller, Cassels, and Beauchamp, on September 16, 1885, set forth to open this new centre. The road lay across the Fen River and over a bold and rocky mountain range, which afforded a refreshing contrast to the sultry plain. ‘After a most delightful journey’, wrote Beau- champ, “‘ that is, delightful if I abstain from mentioning any of the resting places by the way’’, Sichow was reached on the Saturday three or four days later. The house secured contained six rooms, with a kitchen, servants’ quarters, and a well, all at the modest rental of {£4 per annum. Despite the dilapidated state of the premises streams of visitors, full of curiosity, began at once to pour in, which, however, delighted the young workers so long as Mr. Baller remained. But when, on the following ‘Tuesday, he bade them farewell they were speedily plunged like inexperienced swimmers into deep waters. Here were these two young pioneers, with less than three months’ study of the language to their credit, left on their own some four days distant from their nearest missionary neighbours. Both felt almost hope- lessly at sea. Of the two Cassels seemed the better at understanding what was said, while Beauchamp was the better at making himself understood. ‘Thus for the next three months they clung together as mutual ears and mouth, THE CITY OF GREAT PEACE 67 It was not unnatural that in this lonely post Cassels should feel some reaction after the joy and elation of past months. Under ordinary circumstances an out- going missionary is something of a hero to his Church and friends, but in the case of “The Cambridge Seven’ hero-worship had been a marked feature. The trough of the wave naturally follows the crest. What Cassels experienced at this time is best recorded in his own words. Writing two days after Christmas, 1885, he says: Notwithstanding—perhaps I ought rather to say in con- sequence of—the encouragement, the evil one has not been leaving us alone. I have known what it is to be in heaviness through manifold temptations, and have once, at any rate, felt indeed that “‘ my soul was among lions ’’, so terrible was the attack of the devil. A little later he writes again, this time more fully, along the same line: The daily study of Chinese is still our chief work. Then under the surface, visible, perhaps, to no eye but His, are those temptations which in this land especially the devil seems to be permitted to hurl at one. I think that from beginning to end the words of the hymn which say : How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe, I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe ! How often when trials like sea billows roll, Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul very correctly express my experience. If He leads us through fire and water it is to bring us out into a wealthy place, we are sure of that. These words may suggest to you that we missionaries are in need of your prayers ; and such indeed is the case. . . . It is easy to imagine that those who have taken the step of leaving home to become missionaries have got on a platform where they are safe from the ordinary trials and temptations of other people. But there is no mistake greater. . . . The Church is waking up to her duty to send men forth. Does it also realise its equally important duty of sustaining them by constant, 68 BISHOP CASSELS earnest and believing prayer? ... I will give you some of my late experiences in the Words of the Book. But as for me my feet were almost gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped. Unless the Lord had been my Help my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, “‘ My foot slippeth ’’, Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. The evil one has been round about us as a roaring lion trying, oh so hard, to draw us from Thy hand, but through Thee we shall do valiantly, through ‘Thee we shall tread down —no, better still, it is Thou that shalt tread down our enemies. And he was not to be left without the “ clear shining after rain”. We find him some days later on Sunday, January 10, adding: I wrote the foregoing at a time when, as you would gather, I had been going through fire and water, and though His presence was still very real (Praise be to His Holy Name }), the temptations of the devil were very fierce, but now He has indeed once again brought me out into a wealthy place. I do not think I ever had such visions of His love and His glory. I do not know exactly in what words to express my experience, but I have been finding it impossible to keep from shouts of adoration and praise even with the sobering influence of a more sedate companion in the house. Words utterly fail me to-night ; but, oh, it has been royal company all day, Divine company. I have just been gazing upon the Master, talking with Him. If I ask for your prayers shall I not also ask for your praises ? Among the many persons with whom Cassels and Beauchamp were brought into touch at this time were the two remarkable men, Chang, the former Buddhist Bishop, and Ch’ti the scholar. Through them they learned of the progress of God’s work in and around Taning, which city they naturally longed to visit. The more we see of Ch’ii [wrote Cassels], the more we praise God for him. He is a man with a great deal more animation than most Chinese that we have had anything to do THE CITY OF GREAT PEACE 69 with. Rather reserved, perhaps, at first, but when he begins to speak about the spread of the Gospel his face lights up, and he talks away so fast and so enthusiastically, that it 1s quite impossible for us to follow him. Ch’ii’s bright and cheery manner, however, was not the result of easy circumstances, for he had endured no little persecution both from his wife and from the officials. It was the fruit of true joy in God. A little later Cassels told his friend, Chang, that he should like to commence work in Taning, if that were possible. Happily, with the Sichow official still friendly, this was easily arranged, and some premises, rough and much dilapidated, were secured. Cassels, therefore, bade farewell to Beauchamp, and travelled one day’s journey south to this little city which nestles among the hills, more like a walled village than a county town. Taning, or the ‘‘ City of Great Peace’, was reached on February 10, 1886, during the first week of the Chinese New Year, and what these first Mission premises were like and what was the missionary’s manner of life there may best be told in Cassels’ own words written nearly a month later. It will be re- membered that the work of which he speaks had grown up as the result of God’s blessing on the labours of the two men, the Buddhist priest and the Chinese scholar. I arrived here on February 1oth, and have now met with all the Christians and have visited most of them in their own homes. ‘They comprise some twenty-two families, and live in the most out-of-the-way villages, chiefly among the hills, at a distance of three to ten miles west of the city. With two or three exceptions, it was the first time they had met with a 1 How friendly and homely the people in Taning could be may be illustrated by the fact that they lent the keys of the city gates to the writer and a friend on one occasion. None the less, during the Boxer crisis some showed their fiendish cruelty against the three lady workers resident in the city, as well as against the Chinese Christians. 70 BISHOP CASSELS missionary, and I have been most warmly welcomed by them all. As far as I have been able to judge, they are warm- hearted and consistent Christians, from the young convert of sixty years old to the lad of twelve who is comparatively an old Christian, having known the Lord nearly two years. On first coming into the city, I put up in the only habitable room of a broken down house, which was the only place I could get. On the brick bed of this room, for it was nearly all kang, I lived with my teacher and servant, and any Christians who came in from the villages to see me. Here we slept, read and prayed, and the food was cooked and eaten. But the Lord, ever watchful of the interests of His children, no doubt thought I ought to have a better place than a couple of square feet in a cave-room; so after a fortnight the Yamen people, who like neither foreigner nor Christian—having kept out the former as represented by Mr. David Hill, who wanted to distribute relief here in the famine time, and having per- secuted the latter to the best of their powers—now influenced my landlord and got me turned out, with the result that I am now in a better house, and as it is owned by the father of some of the Christians, I am expecting to be left undisturbed. Thanks be to God. The work in the city itself is very encouraging. . . . As to myself, God has sustained me wonderfully under many in- conveniences. I have had a continual stream of visitors since I have been here. They burst their way in before I am up in the morning, and do not leave me till last thing at night. Iam now getting a few letters written while surrounded with sight- seers, who are never tired of examining my Bible and my pen and pencil, which are almost the only foreign things I have with me. After a residence of about two months Cassels, joined by Beauchamp, paid a short visit to Pingyangfu, which was at that time the mother-church of the district, their object being to be present at a Church Conference when some seventy-two persons were baptised, which practically doubled the membership of that church. But their visit was cut short by the unwelcome news of persecution at T'aning and Sichow. The friendly official had been replaced by another of a different spirit, and serious charges were being levelled both against the Chinese Christians and the THE CITY OF GREAT PEACE 71 foreigners, it being asserted, for instance, that Cassels had destroyed one of the idols in the Buddhist temple which overlooks the city of Taning. Cassels and Beauchamp therefore set out at once upon the return journey, each going to his own centre. When Cassels reached the city it was to find his house barred and sealed against him, and though it was dark he had no alternative but to pursue his way as best he could to the home of his friend, Chang, in the village of Mul- berry Crag, some twelve miles distant. The night was stormy, and the paths among the hills difficult and dangerous, and his donkey which carried his belongings was by no means easily persuaded to ford the river which had to be crossed. It was a trying experience, but his destination was at length safely reached, and the premises in the city eventually entered by taking the doors off their hinges. Writing again from Taning on May 18, he said: I have been here for three or four months in such company —His glorious companionship. Mr. Beauchamp has paid me several visits from Sichow. I have had such encouragement here, and this notwithstanding severe persecution. But, oh! with the vast masses so enveloped in darkness and sin, we cannot be satisfied with a little encouragement. We want China for God, and in this generation, do we not? May the Lord baptise every Chinese Christian for this purpose. The people here are very friendly. Let me give you an instance. Expecting only to be here for a short time, and for other reasons, I scarcely bought anything in the way of furni- ture or cooking utensils, and nearly all the things necessary have been lent me by people in the city, not Christians, for when I came there were none. Already Cassels’ stay in Shansi had been longer than had originally been intended. His designation from the first had been the west of China, but as already recorded, since large parties could not wisely travel 1 J.e., none in the city, all the Christians were in the villages. ol BISHOP CASSELS together the Polhills had proceeded to Hanchung wa Hankow, while Cassels and Beauchamp were to travel west via the north. Mr. Hudson ‘Taylor had pur- posed long ere this to have joined the Shansi party to escort them west himself, but he had been unexpectedly detained. At length, however, as summer drew near news arrived that he was on his way. Cassels and others therefore travelled north to stay once more, and to meet Mr. Taylor in the hospitable home of Dr. and Mrs. Edwards at Tatyuanfu. Of the days of blessing which followed in fellowship with Mr. Taylor at ‘T'atyuanfu, and subsequently in the south, we cannot write at length. It must suffice to say that Cassels, with four other members of the Cambridge Band, beside other friends, spent ten hallowed days in Taiyuanfu in conference and fellow- ship with Mr. Hudson Taylor, days long to be re- membered, for the chief topic on which Mr. Taylor spoke daily was ‘the all-sufficiency of Christ for personal life and for all the exigencies of service ”’. From ‘Tatyuanfu the members of the conference proceeded south, the majority by the great North Road, but Cassels and Hoste took the small route west of the Fen River in order that they might bring from thence a goodly company of the Christians to meet Mr. Taylor at Hungtung and Pingyangfu, the former city being the centre of the great work conducted by Mr. Hsi. Conferences were held at both these centres, the larger of the two being at Hungtung on August 1 and 2, when some three hundred Christians gathered together. It was on this occasion that Mr. Hsi and Mr. Song * For the full story, see Days of Blessing in Inland China, compiled by Montagu Beauchamp, and for an abbreviated record see Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission, pages 400-412. THE CITY OF GREAT PEACE 73. were set apart by Mr. Hudson ‘Taylor as Pastors, while two elders and sixteen deacons were also appointed, and some seventy persons baptised. Unhappily heavy rains, which made the Fen River impassable, prevented Cassels and Hoste with the Christians from the west from being present at Hungtung, so a smaller confer- ence was arranged at Pingyangfu immediately after. Here it was that Ch’i, the fervent scholar and evangelist, was set apart as Pastor, while five others were appointed as deacons. With these conferences concluded, Mr. Hudson Taylor at once set his face westward for the long over- Jand journey to Hanchung, he being accompanied by Beauchamp. Much to his disappointment Cassels, who fain would have joined the party, was asked to remain behind for another two or three months. But the disappointment had its reward, for he formed during these months a close and even affectionate attachment to Mr. J. W. Stevenson who was then in the province, and had recently been appointed Mr. Hudson Taylor’s deputy in China. As Mr. Stevenson was also Superintendent of the work in West China, Cassels learned to know the man with whom he would, for years to come, be in constant correspondence. His letters to Mr. Stevenson, averaging two a month, have happily been preserved, and bear witness to a love and loyalty of priceless value to any organisation. Cassels was glad, therefore, to open his heart to his fatherly friend—he once wrote to him “‘as to a father ” —and discuss with him a number of questions. One of these was “‘ Marriage on the Mission field ’’, upon which he had already strong convictions. It certainly became a serious problem to him, for as the first clergy- man in Holy Orders to join the China Inland Mission he was frequently called upon to marry missionary m4 BISHOP CASSELS couples up country. It was for this reason he had been requested to delay his departure from Shansi. Before he was a year older he wrote: ‘“ Travelling on this marriage business is assuming serious proportions ’’, and this travelling business soon earned for him the nickname of “‘ The Travelling Joiner”? ! As for himself he was resolved to remain single, and told Mr. Stevenson so with some emphasis. Did not the Apostle Paul say: ‘‘ He that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married is careful for the things of the world, how he may please his wife’’? Zealous for the work not only was he determined to abide single, but he keenly advocated the single life for his dearest friends. And all the while there was deep down a suppressed attachment in his own heart. Was it this that accounted for his vehemence and made him ‘“ protest too much’? How he succumbed we shall see. But there were other subjects which had exercised his mind which he did not feel free to discuss with his colleagues, though he did with Mr. Stevenson. At Taning he had been brought into closest touch with an indigenous work of grace, and he had also seen and learned something of the remarkable work of Pastor Hsi. But as a good Churchman he was exercised by the absence of much to which he was accustomed. Neither infant baptism nor confirmation were practised in Shansi, and the ordination of Pastors Hsi and Ch’ti was certainly not episcopal. He was heartily in sym- pathy with the interdenominational character of the Mission he had joined, but he was thinking his way through to a clearer view of the difference between undenominationalism and interdenominationalism. It was a comfort, therefore, to be able freely to discuss THE CITY OF GREAT PEACE 75 these subjects with one who had a wide and varied experience of twenty years in the work. Writing to Mr. Stevenson from Pingyangfu on October 22, 1886, just a fortnight before he started west, he said: I talked with you on certain matters, e.g. Baptism, Ordina- tion, etc., more freely than I have done with anyone since I have been in China. Because I spoke my mind freely I do trust I did not leave the impression that I was bigoted or uncharitable. Believe me when I say that it is not so. I never mention this matter and never try to disturb those who think differently from what Ido. It seems to mea proselytising spirit in the China Inland Mission would undermine one of the foundations on which it stands. And it was largely because I understood how lovingly Christians of different denomina- tions were working together that I asked to be allowed to join the Mission. Early in November, accompanied only by a Chinese servant, he bade farewell to Shansi, and set out for that sphere which was to be set apart for Church of England members of the Mission where he was to spend the rest of his life. From the same letter quoted above we learn the spirit in which he faced this untried service. And now [he writes], my ‘“‘two or three months”’ are nearly up and I am intending to get off after the Hungtung gatherings. How short the time has been! How I should like as many months as there are days left. But my Father knoweth what things I have need of. ‘That is a blessed thought, is it not? There is also another word that I was feasting on yesterday in Luke xi. in what one may call The Parable of Intercessory Prayer. ‘The Lord teaches us there (verse 5) firstly to draw near with the utmost confidence saying “ Friend ”’, and secondly to lay before Him not merely our needs but the needs of those who are dear to us, whom we love, that is those who are without hope and are looking to us for the Bread of Life (verse 6), “A friend of mine’. Nowcertain friends of mine in Szechwan—that is those to whom my heart is going out in love—have through the ordering of God come out of their way to me (verse 6 margin) like the Man of Macedonia came out of his way to 76 BISHOP CASSELS Paul; and in myself I have just “ nothing to set before them””. But I am asking the Lord that my needs—+z.e. my sense of them—may be very great in view of the grand promise: “ He will rise and give him as many as he needeth”’. Our con- fidence is that if we persevere in our petitions and our im- portunity He will give us “as many as we need’. It was Andrew Murray’s book on Prayer that gave me this word. It was in this spirit of dependence and expectancy that he set forth for his new and needy field. PART IV EARLY YEARS IN WEST CHINA 77 4‘ If I am to select an endowment which I have found precious for the whole work of life beyond all others, it would be the belief in words which I gained through the severest discipline of verbal criticism. Belief in words is the foundation of belief in thought.— BisHop WESTCOTT. You will not forget the sacred words ; wicrds 6 Kadav. I think there is force in the present participle. ‘ Faithful He who calls.’ A word upon which Bishop Westcott rested at every fresh call of God. 78 THE CALL OF THE WEST Tarye no longer ; toward thyn heritage Hast on thy weye, and be of ryght good chere. Go eche day onward on thy pylgrymage ; Thynke how short tyme thou hast abyden here. JoHN LYDGATE, 1370. LEAVING behind the loved field of T'a-ning—the “ City of Great Peace ’—Cassels set forth for his new sphere, Pao-ning, the “ City of Assured Peace”. It was a happy coincidence that ‘‘ Ning”’, the character for ‘‘ Peace ’’, should be the dominant note in the names of the two cities with which his life was to be identified. But whereas he had been welcomed by a little band of Christians to the former, he was to find his entry resented by the latter. But the opposition experienced was only a measure of the need. For more than a month Cassels, accompanied only by a Chinese boy, pursued his way, the long hours of his lonely march affording much leisure for prayer and thought. His route lay over the Yellow River, across the extensive Sian Plain, and then through rough and rocky mountain paths to Hanchung, which was to be his pied-d-terre for entry into the populous province of Szechwan. Nothing can bring home to a traveller the spiritual needs of China more than such a journey. All along the way Cassels would not find a single Mission station. City after city he would enter and leave behind, each without a Gospel messenger, countless villages he 79 80 BISHOP CASSELS would pass where Christ’s name had never been heard, and all along the roads—the highways of China, for railways were unknown—he would encounter incessant streams of eager travellers for whom nothing spiritual was being done. The need, the need, the need, would stare him in the face day by day and night by night. With added urgency he would continue to plead that God would arise and give him all he needed. In the whole province of Shensi which he crossed there was only one Protestant Mission station and that was Hanchung, his temporary destination. Away to the north-west there was the vast province of Kansu, which with Chinese Turkestan extends into the very heart of Asia, with only four stations, and three of these just opened. Away in the far south-west, in the provinces of Yunnan and Kweichow, with their aggregate of twenty millions of people, there were only three centres of light ; while in Szechwan, with which province we are more especially concerned—a province of countless natural resources and more than sixty millions of souls—there were only two stations, Chungking in the south and Chengtu in the west, and a riot in the former had just driven the little band of missionaries away. It was no wonder that Hudson Taylor, whose soul was wrung with anguish over China’s spiritual destitu- tion, should write: The claims of an Empire like this should surely be not only admitted but realised! Shall not the eternal interests of one- fifth of our race stir up the deepest sympathies of our nature, the most strenuous efforts of our blood-bought powers? Shall not the low wail of helpless, hopeless misery, arising from one half of the heathen world, pierce our sluggish ear and rouse us, spirit, soul and body, to one mighty, continued, unconquerable effort for China’s salvation ? THE CALL OF THE WEST 81 With his practical though fervent mind Hudson Taylor had seen in the Cambridge Band some who could attempt an opening into the needy west. But further—in keeping with the principles of the Mission, which, as an interdenominational organisation, recog- nised and made provision for denominational con- victions—he saw the necessity for allocating a sphere for Church of England workers, since Cassels and others of his party were members of that Church. As early as 1866, shortly after the arrival in China of the ““ Lammermuir ”’ party, he had written: Those already associated with me represent all the leading denominations of our native land—Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregational, Methodist, Baptist and Paedobaptist. Besides these, two are, or have been, connected with the “ Brethren ”’ so called. It is intended that those whose view of discipline correspond shall work together, and thus all difficulty on that score will be avoided. Each one is perfectly at liberty to teach his own views on these minor points to his own converts; the one great object we have in view being to bring heathen from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. We all hold alike the great fundamentals of our faith, and in the presence of heathenism can leave the discussion of discipline while together, and act as before God when in separate stations. Mr. Taylor’s visit to the west had, among other things, been to arrange the details of such a division of territory, and the great and needy north of Szechwan was calling as loudly as any for evangelisation. Not to attempt too much at once the densely populated area of Eastern Szechwan, lying to the east of the Kialing River, was, therefore, henceforth to be recognised as the China Inland Mission Church of England sphere. In confirmation of this statement we cannot do better than quote some words spoken many years later by William Cassels, long after he had been consecrated Bishop. G 82 BISHOP CASSELS If you will excuse a personal reference which I cannot avoid. In the providence of God it happened that I should be the first clergyman of the Church of England to join the China Inland Mission. I went out to preach the Gospel, and perhaps —TI do not know whether it was unwisely or wisely—I did not look very far ahead into the future. But not long after arriving in China, when I had only begun to study the language, at the suggestion of Mr. Hudson Taylor, who was most sympathetic and cordial in the matter, it was arranged that I should go to an untouched part of North Szechwan and try to gather round me there members of the Church of England who came out in connection with the China Inland Mission. As soon as I could I made my way from the north of China, where I then was, right down to the west, Szechwan. I was joined there first by my friends, Montagu (now Sir Montagu) Beauchamp and Arthur Polhill, both of whom have since been ordained. We must not at the moment quote more of this interesting résumé, lest we anticipate our story, but we must rather proceed to survey the situation which presented itself to Cassels when early in December, 1886, he reached Hanchung, which is situated a little to the north of Szechwan. There is, however, one memorable experience to which reference must be made before we proceed to survey the field, for God does not lay a burden upon His servants before He has conferred power to bear it. After Cassels had crossed the extensive and monotonous Sian Plain he came to the rocky mountain range which shuts in on the north the Hanchung valley. The weather had been dull and cloudy, and as he climbed these mountain roads he was feeling somewhat desolate and depressed. At the summit, after an arduous ascent, Ch’i-t’eo-kwan, or the Cock’s Head Pass, was reached, a point of vantage from which the long stretches of the Han valley were visible with the Szechwan hills beyond. Pausing after his steep and weary climb, he eagerly scanned the wide expanse before him, when suddenly the sun burst through the clouds and flooded all the THE CALL OF THE WEST 83 landscape with glory. There, fifteen miles away, in the midst of its well-watered and populous plain lay the city of Hanchung, the only Mission station in all that region, and away beyond, on the distant horizon, were the hills amongst which his life’s work was to be. As he stood here wrapped in thought there flashed through his mind the words of Isaiah from which he had preached at South Lambeth: Arise, shine ; for thy Light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee. It was one of those moments which time can never obliterate. ‘To him those words came as a voice from the Living God Himself, and the scene became a prophetic vision of what was to be. There ahead was his future sphere with its people sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, but that burst of glory was God’s pledge that the Sun of Righteousness should arise with healing in His wings and transform the situation. ‘That this was more than a passing fancy, but rather an abiding experience, is confirmed by the fact that more than thirty-five years later, towards the close of his life’s work, he, with a face lit up with the memory of it, recalled that moment on the mount to two young workers, from whom the writer received it. With this vision in mind, let us in spirit take our stand beside him on that mountainous watch-tower in 1886 and survey the land which lay before him. Szechwan, or ‘‘ the land of four streams ’’, so called from the four great rivers which water its soil, is by far the largest province of China proper, and possesses the largest population. Like Eden with its four streams, it is a veritable garden of beauty and fruitfulness, if 84 BISHOP CASSELS physical conditions alone be considered. Its natural resources are boundless ; its waterways are magnificent, and sometimes, as through the gorges of the Yangtze, awe-inspiring ; its plains are almost tropical in their fertility ; its artificial irrigation schemes, engineered long ages ago, are a marvel of skill and ingenuity ; its mountains, especially on the ‘Tibetan border, are massive and majestic beyond description ; its oil and salt wells, bored for hundreds of feet through solid rock with the most primitive of tools, are a revelation of almost incredible patience and pertinacity ; its toiling masses, many of them by reason of the absence of carts and roads veritable beasts of burden, reveal their admirable grit and pluck as they bear along its moun- tain pathways almost insufferable loads; while its temples, rock carvings, and sacred mountains stand as monuments and as a moving testimony to the soul hunger and spiritual aspirations of its people. For nineteen hundred years the millions of Szechwan had toiled, had aspired to better and eternal things, and yet had died without having heard of the Saviour’s Love. But at last an effort was to be made to save those who were ready to perish. The city upon which the heart of Cassels and his fellows was set, as a centre for this new endeavour, was the influential Prefectural city of Paoning, and as this place became his home for many years, and eventually the centre of the new diocese, some description is necessary. Paoning was the most important city in the whole of North Szechwan, not, however, because of its com- mercial activity, but by reason of its official status. Under the Manchu Dynasty it was the city of the Taotai or Intendant of Circuit, whose authority ex- tended over the three Prefectures of Paoning, Tung- THE CALL OF THE WEST 85 chwan, and Shunking, a well-populated area nearly equal in extent to the whole of Scotland. It was also the headquarters of the Chentai or Brigade General, who had military jurisdiction also over a wide area. Here also were located the Yamens of the Futai or Prefect governing the nine Hsien cities of the Pre- fecture, and the Yamen of the local Hsien or county official, with the residences of many other smaller civil and military dignitaries. Though Hudson ‘Taylor and Cassels little thought at that time that their selection of Paoning as a centre for reaching the unevangelised regions of North Szechwan would lead to its becoming the centre of a new diocese, there can be little doubt but that their choice was Divinely guided. From a religious point of view Paoning was also an important centre, the local Confucian and Buddhist temples being widely known and much frequented by visitors from distant cities. Under the old regime the students from all the northern parts of the province came up for the examinations, there being at times as many as ten thousand students in residence in the city or suburbs. Enormous crowds also from all parts of North Szechwan were attracted to the annual festival of the god of diseases in the fifth month. It should further be mentioned that the Mohammedans consti- tuted an influential and strong community in the city and neighbourhood, where there were two mosques. Although a large amount of silk is produced through- out the district there are no great industries in the city itself. ‘The chief business centre is a street outside the city walls, which thoroughfare, especially on market days, presents a gay and busy scene. And it was on this street, as will be related later, that the first Mission premises were secured. Apart from its silk Paoning 86 BISHOP CASSELS is noted commercially for its vinegar, which has a more than provincial fame, and for a special kind of steamed bread which is very popular. As a city it stands on the banks of the Kialing River, which rises in Kansu, passes through the western corner of Shensi, and thence flows south through Szechwan to join the great Yangtze at Chungking. ‘This river, which in winter is a clear placid stream, but during summer becomes a broad and mighty flood difficult to cross, flows around three sides of the city, which stands on a low-lying promontory. In winter the river is spanned by a bridge of boats, but in summer can only be crossed by the use of large ferry barges. The city, almost circled by the river and surrounded by hills, is a picturesque sight. And what has given a peculiar charm to the neighbourhood, especially to the foreigner, are the almost English-like lanes which are found in the suburbs. These appear to be almost unique in China, for many who have travelled exten- sively declare that they have not seen the like elsewhere in that country. These narrow lanes, shut in on either side by high hedges composed for the most part of wild limes, are a delight to the eye, especially when in bloom in the spring. All around, the country has a quiet beauty of its own, although the hills have been largely denuded of trees. There is, unhappily, no question that the city has been deteriorating steadily during recent years, the tragic military disorders since the revolution having dis- couraged any attempt to rebuild or repair dilapidations. THE OPENING OF THE CITY Who would true valour see, Let him come hither ; One here will constant be, Come wind, come weather. JoHN BUNYAN. IF it were possible to tell the full story of the opening of the Mission stations in China it would be a tale of true valour indeed, for all who have attempted this task have had need, in John Bunyan’s phrase, to “ constant be, come wind, come weather”. In many cases not merely weeks of patient unwearying toil have been demanded, but months and years. With Paoning the difficulties were not extreme, but still sufficiently trying, and we tell its story, not only for its own sake, but as one illustration of hardships endured in opening other centres of the diocese that was to be. Probably the first Protestant missionary to enter the city was Mr. G. F. Easton of the China Inland Mission, who had been in China some ten years before Cassels arrived. As a pioneer he had traversed the country from Shanghai to Tibet and back, and itinerated in the far North-West for five years. More than eight years before Cassels reached Hanchung, as told in the last chapter, Mr. Easton had, in the height of the summer of 1878, spent a most trying week in Paoning city, where all alone he was stricken down with smallpox. The place was crowded with students for the examina- tions, and he experienced the greatest difficulty in 87 88 BISHOP CASSELS getting even the poorest accommodation. The inn in which he was eventually received was full of boisterous military students—not the most helpful neighbours for asick man. Housed in a dark damp room with a mud floor, he was, in response to his urgent requests, carried out daily into the open courtyard to lie in the sun. After a week of fever and pain with the prospects of a long and serious illness, he engaged coolies to carry him the eight long stages back to Chungking, then the only Mission station in the province. What he endured under such conditions can be better imagined than described. “I could do nothing,” he subsequently wrote, “ but pray on the journey, and God had mercy on me.”’ But one of his coolies, meanly taking advantage of his helplessness, decamped with all his baggage. Still undismayed he wrote, “‘ So God tries and teaches us, but I can believe that all things work together for good, that His hand is in it all, and that He 1s accomplishing His purposes.” ‘Thank God for such faith and valour ! But nothing daunted a few months later he, this time accompanied by Mr. George King, again visited the city. But nearly eight years elapsed ere it was possible to attempt a settlement. At length in the spring of 1886 Mr. Albert Phelps, with Messrs. Cecil and Arthur Polhill, paid a brief visit to the city, and a little later Mr. Edward Pearse, who had been ten years in the field, accompanied by Mr. Cecil Polhill and an able Chinese worker, made an attempt to rent premises. But the students were so anti-foreign, and so determined in their opposition, that it seemed wise for the foreigners to retire, trusting Mr. Ho to make what arrangements he could. Leaving the city the missionaries journeyed to 1 Now the Rev. Albert Phelps of Norwich. THE OPENING OF THE CITY 89 Chungking only to find that place had just been rioted, and that they must seek shelter in the Yamen, where the other refugees were lodged. This unexpected development made a speedy return to Paoning im- possible, and Mr. Ho,' being perplexed at the non- appearance of his friends, wrote to Hanchung asking that Mr. Phelps might join him in an inn outside the East Gate, which he did in September. As the situation had become more critical by reason of the anti-foreign riot at Chungking great caution became necessary, and Mr. Phelps wisely kept himself in the background as much as possible. At length a likely house was stealthily inspected by night, the deed of rental was approved, and the date for possession fixed. But before entry was obtained the landlord, who had been threatened with dire penalties, came begging to be released. Lest he, an innocent man, should suffer there was no alternative but to free him and begin the search again. Months passed in this way, and meanwhile Cassels, who had arrived at Hanchung in December, paid his first visit to the city, bringing some needed supplies. Writing under date of January 18, 1887, he said: By Mr. Pearse’s advice I went to Paoning, taking Mr. Studd’s luggage on thus far, also silver and letters for Mr. Phelps. I scattered seed at all the places on the way and was so glad to meet with the brethren Phelps and Gray Owen at Paoning. I spent two days with them in prayer and con- sultation. ‘Then I went on to Pachow, where I sold books and spent one day. From Pachow I still went east to Tung- kiang, where I spent two days and disposed of the rest of my books and tracts. Having no more books I returned with all speed to Hanchung 1 Mr. Ho, who was the first convert of the Hanchung Church, was a wise and cautious man. Previous to his conversion he had been an ardent vegetarian, and had travelled widely, even into Kokonor and Tibet, preaching salvation by vegetarianism and similar austerities. But now he was just as zealous in the things of God. go BISHOP CASSELS by Hsi-ho-k’eo, being absent thirty-two days. ‘The whole dis- trict is hilly and does not appear populous, but yet there are vast crowds of people found at all the markets, which are held constantly. Tungkiang reminded me of 'Taning (in Shansi) though it is a much larger place. Like Pachow and Paoning it has water communication with Chungking. Books sold most readily in the Tungkiang district, and thus confirmed what.was told me, that it had been scarcely visited by missionaries. It is worthy of note that one of the two brief days spent by Cassels at Paoning during this his first visit was Christmas Day, 1886, for Christmas Day, as our story will show, was on several occasions a red-letter day in Cassels’ life. Writing on December 25, 1914, when Bishop of the Diocese, he said : It was at Christmas twenty-eight years ago that I first set my foot in Paoning on a short visit of prospection in this region. Things were far from easy then. We were suspected, distrusted, and opposed ; our motives were misunderstood and misinter- preted. No house could be purchased or rented, and the prospects were far from promising. And for ourselves, we were very inexperienced, our knowledge of the language was small, and our knowledge of the people less. But this sense of helplessness was Cassels’ source of strength, for it drove him to prayer. When weak he became strong, believing that through Christ he could do all things. And so we find him at this initial stage laying the foundation of the work to be, by instituting that weekly day of intercession which has persisted ever since. You may have heard [he wrote Mr. Stevenson from Hanchung], that a few days after my arrival here I went down to Paoning and returned by Pachow and Tungkiang. I scattered a good deal of seed in the way of talks and tracts on the road, and had the joy of some time of prayer with Phelps and Gray Owen. We spent New Year’s eve in prayer at a little village thirty odd miles from Paoning, and since that I have kept the weekly anniversary of that day, that is every Friday, THE OPENING OF THE CITY gi for half a day of prayer and fasting with special reference to Szechwan. Others of the Szechwan detachment are, I believe, doing so too, Refreshed by this brief visit Phelps held on, still living in an inn, but this time inside the city near the West Gate, and assisted now by another Chinese named Siang. But the negotiations were protracted, and Cassels was obliged to fulfil engagements elsewhere. There were Mr. C. F. Hogg and Miss Muir to be married at Hanchung, and Mr. Gray Owen and Miss Butland awaiting his arrival for the same purpose at Chengtu, and there was, despite his strong views on celibacy, his own engagement as an appropriate preface to these weddings. But such a crisis in his own experience demands a chapter to itself, so that the story of the opening of the city must be completed first. Eventually during the spring of 1887 Phelps’ atten- tion was drawn to a suitable house at the north end of the main East Street. The owner was a remarkable Mohammedan widow named Ku, a striking personality with great strength of character. ‘Terms were arranged, the deed of rental signed, and the date fixed for entry, but only into a portion of the building, for there were several tenants. As had been anticipated opposition arose as before, but Mrs. Ku was not a woman easily to be terrorised, and she resolutely held her ground. In view of some unavoidable delay in taking posses- sion, Phelps gladly accepted the offer of Arthur Polhill to relieve him foratime. But more formidable opposi- tion now arose. Gongs were beaten, crowds were gathered, and the people exhorted not to yield to the foreigner. Again the agreement was destroyed, and all prospects of success disappeared. On hearing of this trouble Phelps hastened back, g2 BISHOP CASSELS and shortly afterwards, through the good offices of a secretary of the District Magistrate, with whom he had formed a friendship, an interview was arranged with the official himself who, being a native of the coast province of Chekiang, was more acquainted with the ways of foreigners than the local gentry. With his approval the deed was re-written, the possession of three rooms in the south section was secured, and with a grateful heart Phelps took possession with his teacher and servant. But all demonstrations of ill-will did not cease, for a few weeks later Phelps’ fears were suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by the noise of an approach- ing procession. With a bang and a crash the door was smashed in and the crowd surged through. Without showing any signs of alarm Phelps asked by what rules of etiquette this unseemly intrusion was allowed, when most unexpectedly and without any explanation the crowd withdrew as they had come. On the next day the leader of the procession sent an apology, and before long the possession of the whole compound, with the exception of a small court in the north-west corner,* reserved by Mrs. Ku for herself and two grandchildren, gave a fuller sense of security, though opposition did not fully cease. Here at the beginning of August, 1887, Cassels and several others assembled to commence settled work. But before we take up that narrative we must go back a few months to follow more fully Cassels’ own story. 1 This remaining portion was only secured by the Rev. W. H. Aldis seventeen years later in 1904. LOVE TRIUMPHANT Of all the sweet and noble names that a woman bears, there is none so rich, so sweet, so lasting and so fruitful as just her first Divine name of helpmeet. Her Father, so to speak, gave her away under this noble name. And how favoured of God is that man to be accounted whose life still continues to draw help out of his wife’s fulness of help, till all her and his days together he is able to say, I : ! have of God a helpmeet indeed ! ALEXANDER WuyTE. In the autumn of 1885, not long after Cassels had reached Shansi, he had written to his mother saying, “Mrs. Hargreaves writes to me that a Miss Legg, a South Lambeth Sunday School teacher, was going to start for China in a month’s time!!’’ Beyond his two exclamation marks he makes no comment. ‘Those marks might signify anything or nothing. That they came to mean everything, despite his resolutions to keep single, is the subject of this chapter. Miss Mary Louisa Legg was the first of the six workers from the South Lambeth Parish to follow William Cassels to China. Converted when about twelve years of age at some Children’s Services held on the beach at St. Leonards, she had more fully dedicated herself to God at the time of her confirmation two years later. Her home was in St. Leonards, where she was educated, and where for a time she took up teaching as her profession. Though blessed with a good and gracious mother there were elements in her early life— one of these being an invalid and crippled sister— which, by their chastening and discipline, began their 93 94 BISHOP CASSELS good work of developing a noble and brave spirit. Resolved to bear her share of life’s burdens, though she could have remained at home, she accepted the post of Assistant-Mistress in a school in London, which led her to join All Saints’ Church, where Cassels was curate. Here she threw herself with youthful ardour into such activities of the Church as her time allowed, becoming a zealous worker in the Mission band and among the costermongers and factory girls. Having offered to the China Inland Mission and been accepted, she sailed for China on December 12, 1885, under the escort of Dr. and Mrs. Douthwaite, and in company with three other lady workers, landing in Shanghai on February 2, 1886. ‘The life and testi- mony of this party on board were blessed to many of the crew, and one officer at least. So manifest was the change in these men that officers and passengers alike bore witness to it, and ere the missionary party left the ship they were presented with the following letter signed by those who had been helped: SHANGHAI, February 2nd, 1886. TO OUR DEAR CHRISTIAN FRIENDS—We, the undersigned, feel deeply grateful to you for being the means of our finding salvation and true happiness: we feel so much indebted to you that we cannot find words to convey sufficiently our mean- ing. But, although we shall be separated by land and sea, we will pray to God that, in His great mercy, He will watch over and protect you from all harm and danger, and that you may be the means of bringing many, many souls to Christ. ‘Trusting that you will remember us in your prayers, and that we shall all meet together in that beautiful land on high, is the prayer of your loving friends. [Here follow the signatures of the men.] The months of spring were spent by Mary Legg at the Mission’s Language School at Yangchow, both then and for many years after under the loving and motherly MARY LOUISA LEGG. As missionary candidate in 1885. To face page 94. LOVE TRIUMPHANT 95 care of Miss Mariamne Murray. With the same good friend she proceeded later to Takutang, a lovely spot near the foot of the mountains overlooking the Poyang Lake, and under the shadow of the more recently developed hill resort, Kuling. Here she passed the hot and trying days of summer. It was during this time of retreat that she received a letter from her friend, William Cassels, from which it is clear that a mutual attachment existed between them. In this communi- cation written from Shansi he tells her of his conviction of being called to remain single, a declaration which she acknowledged, when writing to a bosom friend, came to her as a painful shock. Fond hopes were thus dashed and dreams dispelled—for a time. But though the course of true love is said never to run smooth it still runs irresistibly. In this case it was only pent up to burst forth later with overwhelming force. From Kuling Mary Legg returned in the autumn to Yangchow whence, as a Church of England worker, she was designated by Hudson Taylor to Hanchung with a view to labouring subsequently in Szechwan. Travelling up the Han River under the escort of Mr. and Mrs. Hutton, she reached her destination a little more than a year after her landing in Shanghai. From some of those with whom she lived during her first year or two in China we learn that she was in those early days a diligent student of the language, a lovable and beautiful soul, personally attractive, some- what forceful and masterful in character, and with ‘‘a voice like a bird”. Such was Mary Louisa Legg when she reached Hanchung toward the end of February, 1887. According to promise William Cassels was due at Hanchung in March to marry Mr. C. F. Hogg and Miss Muir, and here he again met Miss Legg, whom 96 BISHOP CASSELS he had not seen for more than two years. Meeting her thus face to face, especially as he had come for a wedding, raised an issue which he had thought dead. The whole question had to be debated again. Had he or had he not been Divinely guided in his decision not to marry? Despite himself his feelings now challenged his theories. Past convictions and love’s present plead- ings engaged in a battle royal. He was not a man to be lightly swayed by his emotions, so there was no easy surrender. But with his friend before him he felt he must arrive at-a decision concerning himself and his friend which could not be shaken, ere he officiated at the marriage he had come to perform. It is no exaggeration to say that for days he endured real agony of mind about it all. What was God’s will? Was he allowing a second best to contend with God’s highest? If he did decide to remain single himself he knew that this would be like a sword in the side of his friend, whom he loved despite himself. He was pre- pared to deny himself, but love’s keenest shaft pierced him as he thought of wounding another. But the great thing was to know God’s mind. He prayed, he fasted, he sought God’s Word for light upon his path, and one whole day at least he spent by himself alone with God in the open fields north of the city, until at length he felt convinced of God’s guiding hand. ‘Then peace and assurance took possession, and on Sunday evening, March 13, after the little English service, he and his friend plighted their troth in that far away Chinese city, and upon that pledge of human love God set His everlasting seal. That Cassels should have become engaged and in such a precipitate fashion—as it appeared—laid him open to no end of chaff. Here was the man who had so vehemently expressed his convictions in favour of the LOVE TRIUMPHANT 97 single life—convictions he had preached to others— surrendering them almost at first sight—or so it seemed. And when within forty-eight hours of his own engage- ment to Mary Legg he spoke on the Marriage at Cana in Galilee at Mr. and Mrs. Hogg’s wedding, and asked in all innocence “‘ And what did Mary say? ”’ the risible faculties of even his most sedate friends could not be restrained. Friendly banter inevitably followed, but the joy was his, and how he justified his volte face is best described by his own letter to Mr. Stevenson, dated March 21: David enquired of the Lord, “‘ Shall I go up against the Philistines ? And the Lord said Go’’. He went and prospered. (1 Chronicles xiv. 10.) ‘‘ And the Philistines yet again spread themselves abroad, and David enquired again’’, and the answer was different, “Go not’”’. He did not make the mistake of thinking that the guidance in one case was to be the guidance in every case. ‘This, however, is the mistake we are apt to make. It was the mistake I was making. I was thinking the guidance of last year was the guidance of to-day, when it is now evident that the Lord has other purposes for me. If any matter was ever undertaken with prayer and long waiting upon the Lord to know His Will my engagement is such a matter. The time may seem to have been short, but circumstances needed that it should be brought to a head. By the grace of God I could have borne my own burden and gone off to Szechwan leaving things as they were ; but I could not bear her grief, knowing too well, and better than any around me, what was making her so ill. So things could not be delayed. I am so certain of the Lord’s guidance and am confident that I have His smile upon me. Each day assures me more and more that He is the Doer of it, and I feel ‘‘ I shall yet praise Him more and more’”’. You are aware that I have known Miss Legg for three or four years. . . . Our Master Himself began His earthly ministry and manifested forth His glory at a marriage feast. Hallelujah! Will you not then, dear Mr. Stevenson, pray for us that we may serve the Lord as we could not possibly have served Him singly. There is one other letter of Cassels penned during this visit to Hanchung dated six days before his H 98 BISHOP CASSELS engagement, from which some extracts must be given to reveal his utter devotion to the Lord and His work, and at the same time his desire that that work should be rightly governed. One of the first letters I opened [he writes Mr. Stevenson on March 7th] of the unusually large mail which has just reached me was yours of January 14th. I cannot tell you what joy it gave me to hear from you and I did thank God... . Oh, it has been a time of “ abiding satisfied”. ‘‘ The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” This is still true. I hear that such expressions are being disapproved of, but I must state the blessed fact of my deep experience, that I have utterly lost my heart on Fesus. aca. But herein lies the mystery and the paradox. I do feel in a most terrible state of dissatisfaction. I do long for more of the outflowing of the rivers of water—the “‘ more abundantly ” which the King has promised to His servants. .. . The Lord gave us a message from your circular letter at a little prayer meeting we had about the Chinese New Year. It was re-read, and stirred many of us to more of that kind of prayer which cannot do without fasting, and the message reached beyond us to some of the Chinese, for the arrows which God gives to His children go very far and very deep. The great matter before us, as you said then and say again, is to glorify God by saving souls. To the winds with all our Church organisation and proper sanctions and so on, unless we set this first and last too ! God has sent us to China, has put us in the work to glorify Him and to be His messengers to poor benighted men, and by His grace we will do this. We want to preach the Gospel to every creature in Szechwan; we want a wave of converting power to roll over the province, and we want each Christian to be stamped with the mark “ Holiness to the Lord”. . . . Directly after the wedding (of Mr. and Mrs. Hogg) I start for Chengtu, to keep as near as possible to Mr. Taylor’s request, that I should be there early in March to marry Mr. Gray Owen and Miss Butland, and let the Clarks get away... . I may then pursue the study of the language either at Chengtu or Paoning. In the absence of further instructions the Lord will guide me in other ways. I have sent my luggage by my boy to Paoning. .. . Thanks so much for telling me all about your conference LOVE TRIUMPHANT 99 with kind Archdeacon Moule. . . . I am very glad you were able to have it all well talked out, for though I am feeling intensely that the salvation of souls is so important that any difficulties of other kinds must utterly go to the wall before that, yet I believe that our glorious Lord is going to bless His work, and I do intend by His grace to walk through the land and possess it for Jesus, so it is well to have our arrangements made for the formation and orderly carrying on of churches. Since the letters which the Archdeacon refers to I have written again to him. I also told him, as you did, that I saw no fear of any clashing between the Bishop and the China Inland Mission Council or Superintendents, and quoted the cases of Colonial Bishops superintending missionaries. It seems to me that the fear of clashing will be no more and no less than in these cases. In keeping with Mr. Taylor’s request he left as soon as the wedding at Hanchung permitted for the marriage arranged at Chengtu, in which city he settled down for a period of study, hoping to receive word any day that Phelps had been prospered in his quest for a house at Paoning. ‘The delay in securing premises there very far exceeded his expectations and proved a real trial to his eager spirit. His letters written during his four months’ stay at the capital of the province revealed the yearnings of his heart over needy Szechwan and his consuming desire to gain a foothold at Paoning. I can hardly bear [he says, writing to Mr. Stevenson on April 20th] to write 1887 when it recalls to one the awful fact that after all these eighteen hundred years there are only some fifty Christians in this province of twenty million people, millions of whom have never heard the name of Jesus. I suppose we have been in the province some ten years. Can it be God’s Will that we should make converts at the rate of five a year? I have been considering the question to-day, and trying to find out what the rate of progress is God intends should be... . The Clarks started on ‘Tuesday, the 12th, Cecil [Polhill] Turner and Phelps travelling with them to Chungking. The province is thus being left with six missionaries until others arrive. It is about time we cried to the Lord for thirty men and thirty women. Some of us hardly knew what we were 100 BISHOP CASSELS doing when we kept praying for women to be sent to Szechwan. Little did we think that to answer our prayer the Lord would have to overturn our deepest prejudices, not to say convictions. How could He send sisters to Eastern Szechwan unless some brothers made homes for them? I remain here sticking hard to books. Arthur [Polhill] Turner starts for Paoning to-morrow to take possession of the house in the name of the Lord. We have been asking the Lord for this particular house for some time, and have determined to stick to it. He says, “‘ For what dost thou make request ?”’ wanting a definite petition. To-day at noon Mr. Liang arrived saying he had bad news. There was no chance now to get the house, and he feared it was not God’s Will that we should have one in Paoning at all. . . . Hearing this we all felt rather bowled over. What did the Lord mean? How about our prayers? We fell on our knees and asked Him to teach us. It then came to us all that it was a trial of faith and we must hold on. We mean to. Arthur [Polhill] Turner starts to-morrow, going to walk into the house, find an empty room—there are said to be two or three uninhabited—and seat himself down. The house is legally ours, money having been already paid over. We have tried the man-man-tth plan (slowly, slowly) for twelve months. We believe the Lord will honour faith and courage. Mr. Liang is horrified and thinks us mad. He wants to be allowed to go on first and see what he can do. . . . We told him that if he attempted to discourage us or to go on first and spoil the plan of getting in we should prefer to keep him here. I think he received encouragement by hearing the plans we adopted just this time last year at T'aning (Shansi). I had already been turned out of one place by the Mandarin’s in- fluence, and while I was absent the Mandarin, in addition to bringing charges against me and the Christians, told the land- lord I was no longer to be allowed my house, and the door was to be locked. On my return I got through the window. . . . Weare acting on distinct guidance given us on our knees, and we are going to entertain no doubts, but trust. Six days later he wrote again : I am hard at work at the language, giving myself almost exclusively to that and being helped. . . . Those verses, “‘ The Lord is able to give thee much more than this’ and ‘‘ God is able of these stones to raise up children”’ have been much in my mind for Szechwan. . . . ‘There are such nice quiet times in the beautiful garden here, no longer hiding from the Lord amongst the trees, but meeting Him face to face, brought nigh LOVE TRIUMPHANT IOI by Jesus. . . . Oh for the heaviness of Paul, oh for the tears of the Lord Jesus, for the agonies of the Lord Jesus—for the unfathomable love which tore Him from glory and made Him set His face steadfastly to face death! Oh for deeds, and not empty words and feelings! ‘Do it,” is a word given me lately. Pray that I may. After referring to a beloved fellow-worker who desired to work in Tibet, he proceeded : I asked him what Mr. Taylor’s views were, and he said that the matter would probably be determined by the guidance he himself received. I only said that I trusted the Lord would make it all plain to him, and that I believed people were led in very different ways. I do think, however, that many of us need more caution on the matter of guidance. If we were quite sure that no secret self-pleasing found its way into our hearts we should be safer in taking our own course rather than the advice of those who have been taught by years of experience. Personally (though perhaps it may be the devil has stirred up one to fret against general instructions and their bondage, until the Lord taught one to rejoice afresh in any- thing new which would help in the emptying process) there are times in which I have the greatest longing for the presence of an older missionary to advise and direct me. It has been natural to me to lean on others too much rather than too little. And this leads me to say how thankful I shall always be for hints, warning and advice as to my work and my movements. The very best thing for us at times is a really good sitting upon. Now for example, in the matter of my marriage I do want to follow your advice and that of Mr. Taylor, who had seen a good deal of Miss Legg at Yangchow, and knows her state of health, and may possibly have got to know what some there did know, how deeply Miss Legg has prayed about this matter for a long time. From my attitude at Taiyuanfu you may think me change- able in the extreme, but I think I have already suggested that I have mistaken temporary for permanent guidance... . My heart is just burdened for Eastern Szechwan. Oh that He would rend the Heavens and come down, and do things that we look not for—something quite exceeding our expectation, and He will. Blessed are all they that wait upon Him. Writing again on May 6, he says: Our faith continues to be tried about Paoning. Arthur [Polhill] Turner’s coolie returned on Wednesday night with a 102 BISHOP CASSELS note saying that he had been prevented carrying out the plan of entering the house. . . . We at once had a council of war. . . . It seemed right to send off somebody else to help our brother. Mr. Wang, a very good man for this sort of work, had been suggested by Gray Owen. He was most agreeable, and warmed up splendidly at the thought of the work. He has plenty of ‘‘ go” and is not timid. His wife stopped up all night to get his things ready, and he started off the next morn- ing (yesterday). I trust the brethren will be glad to have him, and will not be afraid of superseding Chang Wa. It seems to us that after all these months carrying on the matter in the man-man-tih style it is time to make a determined effort, and as we believe it is God’s Will to give us a place we need not be afraid of going ahead. Of old they boldly walked into the Jordan and the waters divided as their feet touched them. We have not yet put God to the proof in this way at Paoning. We have rather been watching to see if the waters would divide before making the effort. I remain here studying hard. It could have been no use my going as no doubt Phelps has arrived by this time, and two foreigners (Phelps and Arthur [Polhill] Turner) will be plenty. But though possession of the house was obtained at Paoning there was still considerable opposition, and for a time Cassels remained at the capital. Writing under date of June 3, he said: How different are things in Szechwan. What idol worship ! What superstition! What careful observance of idolatrous rites! What magnificent temples! What crowds of priests ! What tinkling of bells and chanting of prayers! What burning of incense and candles, paper money, and all the rest of this heathen paraphernalia! But in proportion as the work is more difficult the triumph of grace will be more glorious. P.S.—I think I ought to tell you that Mr. Horsburgh of the Church Missionary Society has written to me to know if I think it possible for him to come and work up here in Szechwan as a Church Missionary Society missionary and to work along with us. He came out for extension work, and wishes to get further inland. He is also very much in favour of our simpler and more native style of living and working. He suggests that his coming might make it easier for Bishop Moule to visit Szechwan in course of time. . . . I wrote to tell him that I saw no obstacle, and personally I should heartily welcome him if the Lord so directed. LOVE TRIUMPHANT 103 At this juncture the illness of a brother missionary unexpectedly delayed his departure, for on June 15 he wrote : I am now writing in great haste, for it having become in- creasingly evident that dear Gray Owen has caught the small- pox it has been decided that I may have the privilege of nursing him, and he is to be brought in here. Nearly a month later, on July 13, he reports the arrival of new workers, of his joy in welcoming them, though his own spartan habits caused him to rebel a little against the less austere ways of others. If I write of my own doings [he says], it must be a tale of some three or four weeks of table-serving and ministering to the brethren in temporal things. In as far as this has been not for myself but for others it has been as acceptable to the Lord as other work. It does, however, appear to me to be very questionable whether the way we encumber ourselves with worldly possessions is altogether pleasing to our Master, and they certainly engross us a great part of our time. ‘There was the nursing of dear Gray Owen. When he came over into my room he was so ill that the being carried across was most exhausting, and for some days he had to be fed every two or three hours, night and day, with a spoon. . . Excellent news has just come from my parish, some half a dozen have China deeply laid on their hearts, they are excellent workers too. How nice for them to form a colony out here in Szechwan. ... ‘““ Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.” “ Behold, I will do a new thing ; now it shall spring forth ; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” ‘The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls ; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.”’ “This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.”’ These truths are getting hold of us, and we are keeping on praying for new things in this province. Oh for souls! Oh for souls! My heart aches to win souls and see souls won. I cannot imagine any real completeness in the peace of anyone 104 BISHOP CASSELS who is not winning souls or engaged in work which more or less directly tends to the winning of souls. For myself I know there is a great unsatisfied gap in my heart when I lay down at night after spending a day arranging furniture, curtains, pictures, etc., and so on, and I cannot testify to feelings of joy, though it may be ever so necessary to have these things, and these things may all be done to the glory of God. Do join us in prayer for souls in this province. Oh to bring in lost ones !—just a few this year. Oh for some out and out conversions |! Oh for a general wake-up both among ourselves and the Chinese Christians ! If I could stop until our new brethren get settled down we might have some hours of laying hold of our mighty God about this, but they will be very busy for some days yet. The wealth of correspondence dating from Chengtu is somewhat embarrassing, but we must not omit to reproduce one or two paragraphs from one of his letters to his mother : Just a few Sunday words with you. My letters on my journey from Hanchung to this great city have gone in another direction. But I do not love my Mother less for that reason. I think I love and value her more than ever. Perhaps I feel more than ever how I should like to have some talks with you, dear Mother, and tell you all about everything. .. . When you pray for me, as I know you do incessantly, will you link with my name her name with whom my life is so closely connected, asking that we may “ glorify God in our bodies and our souls which are His”. That we may be strengthened for and used in His blessed service and that we may be enabled to extend His Kingdom largely in this province of Szechwan. The need which there will probably be after a time for us to make a home for other “ sisters’ who will be coming to work in the proposed Church District in Eastern Szechwan, will probably lead to our being married in a year, but Mr. Taylor will be able to tell you what he thinks about this. . . . At length toward the end of July, Gray Owen being convalescent and the new arrivals comfortably settled, Cassels left the capital to take up his residence in Paoning, where he was to make his home until his death more than thirty-eight years later. Within a few days LOVE TRIUMPHANT 105 of his arrival there, there was temporarily gathered together a goodly company of workers in this new station, which must have rejoiced his heart. In addi- tion to himself there were Beauchamp, Cecil and Arthur Polhill ‘Turner, making four of the Cambridge Band, and on August 5 Phelps and Hope-Gill joined them, the latter being another Cambridge man who had come out through Cassels’ influence. Praise the Lord [he writes on August 4th] for bringing me here at last. I am so delighted to be here. I know that many are praying for this place, and so feel I have got into the current of prayer. We are certain to have blessing here. It must come, though the battle will be fierce and the devil will try hard to upset us. We have begun work at once. ‘Tuesday morning we gave to prayer and fasting, and in the afternoon did the first street preaching that has been done here, except when Mr. Pearse and others have visited the place. We hope, please God, to continue this daily, but our hope is not from any efforts of our own, but from God pouring out blessing in answer to prayer. You will not forget to pray, amongst other things, that when we all assemble here we may be of one accord, and have a meek and yielding spirit towards one another. For having each of us different experience and different ways of looking at things, the devil would like to make us pull in different directions. Many men, many minds, often (as I have known) lead to difficulties. . . . Phelps is expected shortly from Hanchung, and it is thought Gill may be coming with him. I am really expecting the Lord to make the latter a very useful worker by directing; his warm feelings into the right channels. Yes, dear old Phelps does deserve our thanks (and I have repeatedly told him so) for plodding on here and at length getting such a capital house. . . I have great expectations from this district. Especially as I have lately heard of much prayer being put up for Eastern Szechwan. ‘There seems to be quite an awakening of mis- sionary interest in my old parish. A new curate (Meadows by name) seems to have something to do with this, and Miss Culverwell’s coming out has also helped to stir them up. There are more to follow. There always is more to follow, praise God ! BRINGING HOME HIS BRIDE What is House and what is Home, Where with freedom thou hast room And may’st to all tyrants say, This you cannot take away ? ’Tis nothing with doors and walls, Which at every earthquake falls. Home is everywhere to thee, Who can’st thy own dwelling be. JosEPpH BEAUMONT. It had been Cassels’ original intention to delay marriage for at least another year that he might engage more freely in itineration. But, with a house secured, Mr. Stevenson suggested that he should come down to Shanghai, see Bishop Moule, secure his licence, and at the same time be married. It was hoped that in this way the Mission’s Church of England work would be regularised and Paoning secure a home for the reception of new workers, ladies included. Nothing loath to respond, William Cassels and Miss Legg set out for the coast under the welcome escort of Dr. and Mrs. William Wilson. The journey down the Han river was swift and enjoyable, and Wuchang on the mighty Yangtze was safely reached late one evening. In a hurried effort to enter the city before the gates were closed, only hand luggage was taken, the rest of their possessions being left in the care of the boatmen. Next morning to their dismay they learned that the boat had been plundered and all their goods, wedding 106 BRINGING HOME HIS BRIDE 107 garments included, had disappeared. Happily among the things taken into the city was a small handbag containing a cheque which amply met their immediate needs. ‘This cheque, which had at first appeared a luxury, thus became a necessity, and was long remem- bered as one outstanding instance of God’s timely provision. On Tuesday, October 4, 1887, William Wharton Cassels and Mary Louisa Legg were married in the Cathedral at Shanghai, Dean Hodges, an old Cambridge friend of the bridegroom’s brother John, officiating. After the briefest honeymoon the newly married couple prepared for their long journey home, but not before William Cassels had seen Bishop G. E. Moule, from whom he received his Episcopal licence author- ising him to minister in Szechwan, which province, though nearly two thousand miles away, was nominally within the Bishop’s jurisdiction. Of the long and anxious conversations between Bishop Moule and William Cassels we have no record, but several references in subsequent correspondence make the tenor of parts of it quite clear. It was a new and novel departure to develop a Church of England work within the borders of an interdenominational Mission, and Bishop Moule was not without some natural and serious misgivings. But reference to this will appear later. The next step was the journey west. Accompanied by two new workers, Miss Davis and Miss E. Culverwell, the latter from South Lambeth, Mr. and Mrs. Cassels set their faces toward Szechwan, knowing full well that their entry into their new home would be far removed from what such an entry is to newly married couples in the homeland. Hitherto no foreign lady had set foot in Paoning city, so a boisterous reception was expected. But the deepest and most 108 BISHOP CASSELS abiding joys are not dependent upon externals, though these are not to be despised. They soon learned to say: Home is everywhere to thee, Who can’st thy own dwelling be. After a passing visit to the Mission’s two Language Schools at Yangchow and Anking on their way up river, where they were rejoiced to see a goodly company of new recruits—some of the Hundred—they commenced the fascinating yet dangerous journey west by means of a Chinese houseboat.- Having come down to the coast by the Han River route they returned by the Yangtze, travelling through the tremendous Yangtze Gorges, which afford some of the most majestic scenery in the world. Here nature may be seen in her most magnificent moods. Here are the swirling waters of this mighty river, the rushing, foaming rapids, the engulfing whirlpools, with beetling cliffs towering up thousands of feet on either side. The whole scene seems shut in by inescapable mountains, but every bend of the river reveals an unexpected outlet with some new and charming vista. For mile after mile these wonder- ful gorges are an unsurpassed revelation of grandeur and beauty. But though William Cassels always had a keen eye for nature’s beauty, and seldom returned from a journey without some new illustrations from her, what most impressed him, judging by his letters, was the over- whelming spiritual destitution of the people. This journey [he wrote] has made me realise in a much more vivid way than before, the needs of this vast province of Szechwan. Fengtu is the sexth large city that we have passed in this province, not reckoning the many unwalled market- towns. ‘The population of these places varies from thirty thousand in the smaller cities, up to ten or twelve, or even fifteen times that number in the larger cities. ‘They have been BRINGING HOME HIS BRIDE 10g visited occasionally by agents of the Bible Society with Scrip- ture portions. But apart from this, nothing is being done for these thousands of souls—nay, millions of souls. I saw two little beggar boys in the city this morning standing outside one of the native eating-houses, their naked bodies (for they had but the merest rag upon their loins) all begrimed with dirt, and their faces pinched with cold and hunger. People passed into the shop and fed to the full, and crowds of well-fed people brushed past them in the street, but no one took any notice of them or seemed to care for their state. They were heartless people in that town not to do some- thing substantial for these tiny starved beggar boys, were they not? But is not the Church of God more heartless to leave the heathen thus to perish for lack of the bread of life? How utterly insignificant was the only work that I could do in passing through this morning ; and when will there again be anyone there to witness for God? It may be even years at the present rate. Three days later he wrote again : I am writing now at a later day (Christmas Eve). Since I began this letter we have left behind us another large city with a population, according to the enquiries which I made, of some three hundred thousand souls. Whilst we are in the neighbourhood of each city we plead for it very specially before our God, and ask Him to send forth truly-called labourers to occupy it—and all of them— for Him, to make them centres of light instead of centres of darkness. Oh that He would impress His “ Go” deeply upon some hearts with reference to these cities, and oh that they would receive His Word and come forth to obey it ! These cities are in our district; that is, in the district of Eastern Szechwan which has been specially set apart for work on Church of England lines, and for those who, believing these lines to be scriptural, are anxious to work on them, whilst, of course, maintaining the deepest brotherly love and goodwill towards those who in these immaterial things see differently. Who will come forth and help to wipe off the blood of the heathen from the Church’s robes ? I am praying that God would lay the burden of this district upon many souls, and that they may give themselves over into His hands for it. Some would come personally. Others would come by deputy, if they are clearly kept from having the privilege of coming themselves. Some would set themselves IIO BISHOP CASSELS to daily, systematic, continuous, believing prayer for the outpour- ing of the Spirit upon the workers and the work. Others might have the privilege of giving of their means for the carrying on of the work here, while there may be a few, too, who, called by God to other work themselves, would especially bring its claims before those who are at liberty to come. The cities I have spoken of lie only upon one side of this great district. ‘There are, besides, numbers of other cities in the interior parts, and on the other sides of the eastern part of Szechwan. In all these, too, there are lost sheep to be found, there is the Gospel to be proclaimed by word and by living witness, there is God to be glorified by the subjection to Him of these usurping idols, and demons and spirits of sin. Since I have been out here I have felt so much how deeply we need the help of labourers at home for missionary work, as well as a very large addition to the number of actual labourers on the field. And of these home labourers the most important will be those who give themselves to the work of prayer. In this pleading for prayer I am not going beyond Scripture limits. Chungking was reached in time for William Cassels and his wife to spend the last day of the old year, 1887, there in prayer and fasting, in keeping with what had long been the Mission’s custom. Then, in company with Miss Culverwell, they set off to complete the remaining stages of their journey to Paoning, which city was reached about the middle of January, 1888. Their entry into their new home was an ordeal for all concerned, and not without anxiety. Speaking of this many years later Bishop Cassels said : ‘‘ We entered Paoning at night stealthily, fearing to create alarm”’. And this was only natural. The arrival of foreign women for the first time was an event to move the city, and no sooner did the news leak out than crowds, over- whelming crowds, almost terrifying crowds, surged into the premises, both to the danger of the people and property. It needed all the ingenuity, patience, and forbearance of the missionaries to control the situation. Such times are trying to live through, being a strain BRINGING HOME HIS BRIDE III upon both mind and nerve, especially when the curi- osity is unabated for days and weeks. We may there- fore picture our friends in that home on the main East Street, after some fifteen weeks of travel, being thronged with almost unmanageable crowds, instead of entering into the peace and quiet of a restful home. The house stood on two sides of a fairly large quadrangle, but every foot of space was filled to overflowing. To be beset with endless crowds, to have no escape from early morning till late at night from inquisitive prying eyes, to know no privacy and no refuge from insatiable curiosity, must be experienced to be appreciated. Like the disciples of old, they were without leisure so much as to eat. | Speaking of those times Montagu Beauchamp, who was a tower of strength on such occasions, has said : The early days in Paoning were almost entirely occupied with the crowds that came, crowds that were absolutely over- whelming, especially at the time of the Dragon Festival. ‘Then they stormed into the women’s apartments, and we put up a partition. Standing up against this partition I turned out the crowds, sometimes forcibly, and one day to my astonishment they turned on me. About a month after their arrival, just when the greatest excitement had subsided, the Chinese New Year brought a fresh inflow of visitors. Of this occa- sion and of the Paoning house a somewhat full descrip- tion was written by Mrs. Cassels, which helps us to picture the situation. A fortnight ago [she writes] was the Chinese New Year. In the morning guests began to arrive in large numbers, increasing as the day wore on until about 5 o’clock, when they began to return and go home for their rice. ‘These crowds of visitors have continued day by day until now, and almost all our time has been spent in the guest-hall receiving our visitors and seeking to tell them of a Saviour. Mrs. Chen, a dear Chinese Christian from Hanchung, has been an invaluable help 112 BISHOP CASSELS to me, and has preached the Gospel most earnestly day after day to her heathen sisters. Her bright testimony to the Saviour’s power to deliver from sin has had great weight. . . . And now I think I must tell you something of my new home. Our house is situated outside the city walls, and is in a very good position for work. In a few minutes one can get into the city. ‘This makes it very convenient for street preach- ing, also for those living inside the city who wish to visit us. On the other hand we can get into the lovely country lanes in less than five minutes, which is a great boon to us. ‘These are the first lanes I have seen in China. Just now they are lovely, and the leaves all bursting forth and the hedgerows lined with violets and other wild flowers. Our hearts are full of praise to our loving Heavenly Father for providing us a home in this place, and for giving us such beautiful surroundings. Now I must try and describe very briefly our house. It is all on the ground floor, of course, being a native house. In the front we have a large square court with some shrubs in the centre and several fine trees growing in different places. One side of the court is bounded by a high wall, and at one end is the large entrance door. On entering you have on your left two large rooms which were originally used as shops, but which now serve as the opium refuge. At present we have several men there who have come in to break off the bad habit of opium smoking. Facing the entrance door are another set of rooms. One is large and lofty, and is used by us as the Chapel. We meet there for morning and evening prayers, and for worship on Sundays, and two or three times during the week in the evening. Next to this room come the rooms in which the single gentlemen live, and a nice book-room. At present we have only Mr. Beauchamp here, so the other two are vacant. On the right side of the court is the main building, in which we live. It is disconnected with the other two blocks, and the court in front is paved with large flag stones. The room in the centre of this building is large and pleasant. This is kept for receiving Chinese guests of importance, and for taking those who are interested in the Gospel for quiet talks and prayer. A door opens from this room into a smaller one looking on to the back court. ‘This is used by my husband as his study. ‘To the right are two rooms used by Miss Culverwell, and beyond these the women’s guest hall. This is a nice large room, and looks very bright with the texts and tracts pasted on the walls. ‘To the left of the centre room are two rooms corresponding to Miss Culverwell’s on the right. These we use as a private sitting-room and bedroom. Beyond is a large SasIWadd ONINOYG aHL dO NVIgd GNnour | i SSNOH SUYPLSIS OL INYT IND T | | JONVUINA NIVW JINVHLNZ MIN SLNVAU IS TadVHD LYNOD INOS 40 31IS GAsodOud NZduWw9 sASNOW] ICOMIS] SADE WOOY SNINIG INE T | aSNOH IOOHIS STYID | LIFTYLS NILW II4 BISHOP CASSELS room which opens on to the back court, and is our dining- room. ‘The back court is a nice open place, though not so large as the front one. There are a few trees growing, one a beautiful peach tree, which is just now out in full blossom, and looks just lovely. To the right is a wing connected with the main building, consisting of three good rooms. In one of these our woman sleeps, and another woman who has come to break off opium smoking. We hope to use this wing as an opium refuge eventually. The kitchens and the servants’ rooms are built just a short distance off from the other buildings. A month or two after Chinese New Year the students came up for the great triennial examinations. Again these courtyards were filled with eager and curious guests. For over twenty days [wrote Montagu Beauchamp] we had been here at work with guests coming in large numbers, for the city was full of candidates for the great triennial ex- amination. The scholars kept us at work from morning till night, and almost all who came were presented with a book and tract, while several hundred Gospels were also given away. . . . It was real hard work, needing all the physical strength one could muster. Before the rush of scholar visitors was over we got country visitors by the hundreds, who came up to worship at the great festival of the year. For some five or six days the street passing our door, which leads to the great temple, was a living stream from morning till night. One longed to do something in the way of a special effort for these poor people. But our hands were more than full inside. One day we shut the door so as to have a quiet Sunday, and on the evening of that day we went out with our banner and had a very good hearing. — Such was the almost routine work within the city during those early months. And in the country it was much the same. What itinerating meant in those days may be described again by Montagu Beauchamp, who was a giant at this exacting toil. The work was hard, and yet it had to be done, and could best be done en garcon. ‘Those were great and terrible journey- ings, not in the wilderness, but amongst crowds. ‘There were bri asvg anf 0], ‘apis puey-IYSII 9Y} UO UsIp[IyD puv sjassey ‘sip pue doystc¢ JOU OMA EAS ee RSL 12) 19 (2) | I Ss IX t Wel fa f “ONINOVd LV HNOH FHL BRINGING HOME HIS BRIDE 115 nothing but inns to stay in, and we were quite commonly fifteen or twenty days on end without a Mission home or centre of rest. To get into these inns often needed extreme tact and diplomacy, but once in we were invariably good friends, and more than welcome next time. We had, in fact, to live down a bad name in almost every place. Yet I say emphatically those homeless times were helpful though it meant hardship ; it was like the experiences of the youngsters—thrown into the sea and so taught to swim. .. . We were a most popular theatre (1 Corinthians iv. 9, margin). ‘Those crowds in the inns, which were such a trial, were, nevertheless, productive of blessing. One could, of course, speak to only the very few out of such crowds, but the mass of them went home with a tale to tell, and all they had to say would be believed implicitly, whether for weal or woe. . . . Here again the best remedy was to mix freely with the people ; listening closely to all that was being said, commenting freely on what you heard, and even taking notice of the rumours in one’s public street preaching. But all this toil and hardship were not in vain, for as early as April, 1888, William Cassels wrote : Notwithstanding our feebleness and often failure, which we deeply lament, our Father has given us continual and blessed encouragement in this place, and there are not a few men, and I may say women too, in whom there is an evident working of the Holy Spirit. But oh! we want much greater things than any we have yet any trace of. And praise God, He is able and willing to do much greater things. If we are reaching with the glorious Gospel a certain number in Paoning how many there are utterly unreached. In this city of some forty thousand people, how many thousands are unreached as yet, and what shall we say of the masses in the cities, towns and villages ALOMOC ac, Geers But having said this one feels that after all the great need is in ourselves, we are to be ensamples to the flock. We are to be the handers on of power and blessing. So, while stirring up God’s people to pray for the outpouring of His Spirit upon the unconverted heathen and on the Chinese Christians, how much need there is to entreat them to pray for us, His mes- sengers and the bearers of the Bread of Life. Mr. Beauchamp will have himself written to tell you how blessedly the Lord has refreshed him lately. I am so thankful to have him here. Our dear brother is doing a splendid work, 116 BISHOP CASSELS and I am sure he is being led of God in undertaking to work the large districts as he is doing. Mr. Hope-Gill arrived two days ago, very bright, and having had very good times, praise God. He has a very kind way of speaking to the Chinese, which I covet earnestly. He will return in a week to Pachow to prepare for Mr. and Mrs. Arthur [Polhill] Turner. We are so thankful to hear from Mr. Stevenson that three sisters are coming to reinforce us here. A WISE MASTER BUILDER Mark you the floor ? that square and speckled stone, Which looks so firm and strong—Is PATIENCE : And the other black and grave, wherewith each one Is checker’d all along—Humi.iry : The gentle rising, which on either hand Leads to the quire above—Is CONFIDENCE : But the sweet cement, which in one sure band Ties the whole frame, is Love—And Cuarity. GEORGE HERBERT. WiTH the coming of the reinforcements mentioned in the last chapter the growth and development of the work may be said to begin. If this book were a history of the Diocese it would be necessary to narrate the opening and enlargement of each new centre, but being a biography the story must be told from the standpoint of the man. The work from its inception was nurtured by William Cassels as a true father in God. He was then the only one in Holy Orders, and was accepted as the natural leader. He welcomed the newcomers, and in co-operation with the Executive in Shanghai appointed them their posts. From the beginning it is easy to recognise the impress of his spirit and character. He was the organiser with marked gifts in that direction, but before organisation he put life and spiritual vitality. God’s blessing to him was paramount, and his first desire was for the fruits of the Spirit both in himself and in his fellow-workers. He believed that the I17 118 BISHOP CASSELS foundations or “‘ Church Floor ’’—to use George Herbert’s quaint phrase—could not be laid apart from Patience, Humility, Confidence, and Love, and all who knew him testify that in these graces he abounded. One supreme secret of his life was the place he gave to prayer. If Love was the “ sweet cement’ it was intercession and constant supplication that reinforced it. It has been said of Napoleon that ‘‘ he was one of those builders who do not think it necessary to trouble about permanent foundations”. That was not so with Cassels. Already we have seen how a weekly day of prayer and fasting was initiated by him during his first flying visit to Paoning, and this became a permanent and effective institution. We always kept every Friday as a day of prayer and fasting [wrote Hope-Gill], whether we were together or—as was more constantly the case—whether we were alone living in inns waiting for the open door. I was especially struck [writes Mr. Horsburgh] with the prayer atmosphere pervading the home and the work. At the weekly day of fasting and prayer Cassels was in his element. The messages God gave us through him were always helpful and his prayers uplifting. He was indeed a man of prayer ; therein lay his strength. And he was strong, strong in the Lord. This spirit of prayer was perhaps the first feature deeply to impress itself upon all newcomers, and this helped to fashion their own attitude toward the work. His heart had been “ kindled by God’s fire” and, as St. Augustine says, “one loving spirit sets another spirit on fire’. The reinforcements mentioned above were the Misses B. Hanbury, F. M. Williams, and S. E. Bastone, for whom another house in a quiet residential street, about ten minutes’ walk away, had been secured and prepared, and on the day of their arrival, July 3, 1888, A WISE MASTER BUILDER 119 they were welcomed some three or four miles outside the city by William Cassels. How they were impressed is shown by some words written by Miss Williams a few weeks later. I am so thankful for having been brought to this station. There is such an earnest, holy tone about the work. Mr. Cassels is one who lives very near to God, and he knows the power of prayer. Every Friday from 12.30 to 3 or 3.30 P.M. we gathered for a time of waiting upon God, specially for the province of Szechwan, and for all the workers and Chinese Christians. It is a blessed and helpful time and such a privilege to bring every detail of the work to God in this way, and He does answer “‘ exceeding abundantly ”’. This example in prayer was followed elsewhere as the work grew and developed. One testimony must suffice. The Rev. A. E. Evans writes : I remember very vividly the live, infectious spirit of prayer which prevailed at Paoning in those days. The Wednesday morning meeting, when to secure quiet the compound doors were closed, was always a time of simple yet bold pleading for spiritual quickening and definite results. I am sure all of us who enjoyed those seasons of fasting and prayer learnt to value and practise the example in our own separate stations, when the wide development of the work made it impracticable to meet together in one centre. ‘‘ All things by prayer’ was certainly one of our leader’s mottoes. Thus did this wise master-builder seek to lay the foundations. He believed, to quote his own words, that “‘ we must advance upon our knees”’. It was not surprising, therefore, that some few years later Hudson Taylor should write, “‘ Mr. Cassels’ department is surpassed by nothing in the Mission for spirituality or success ”’. But though he believed in the secret of the closed 1 The day was subsequently changed to Wednesday to bring it into harmony with the China Inland Mission Prayer Cycle. In this way they had fellowship with thousands in many lands praying for the same objects. Particulars of this Prayer Cycle will gladly be supplied at any of the Mission’s Headquarters. 120 BISHOP CASSELS door for communion with God, he also believed in the open heart toward all the world. It is somewhat astonishing, for instance, to find him within less than a year of arrival seeking to educate the little company of new converts in the work of God in other lands. To this end he began a course of lectures on missionary work in New Zealand, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, etc., all the while seeking to build up these young Christians in the essentials of the Gospel. Breadth and depth with him were not incompatibles. Some idea of the routine work of the station may be gathered from one of his letters : On the river above PAONING, October 23rd, 1888. Our daily plan of work is this. At 7 A.M. we have family prayers (Chinese), then after breakfast at 7.30 our own time of prayer, etc. ‘Then we have a meeting with the opium patients and outsiders, when we explain the more elementary truths of the Gospel. Then there is medicine to be given to the patients, and sometimes to other sick folk, and guests to be received. At dusk we always have a united meeting when some thirty or forty assemble, including many inquirers. On ‘Tuesdays there are some accounts of work elsewhere, on Thursdays an Old Testament reading, and on Fridays a meeting for Christians only. Besides this there are the Sunday services, and on the 1st and 15th of each Chinese month we have a special early prayer meeting to plead for those who are then bowing before their idols. Sundays were full days, beginning with an English service at 7.30 A.M., followed by two public services for the Chinese, then by classes, Sunday Schools, and other forms of activity. But his keen evangelistic zeal early found expression in special efforts. In August, 1888, he wrote : The past week has been a time of very special blessing here in Paoning. ‘The evening meetings were unusually well attended by our inquirers, and the Lord gave us tokens of His presence. A WISE MASTER BUILDER I2I Every night we had what I may call after-meetings, when we especially dealt with the candidates for baptism. During the early part of the week these were largely occupied with teaching, but as the enthusiasm increased the claims of the Master to full and immediate submission to Him were more and more strongly pressed. All through, salvation in its fulness was our theme, and having to do with inquirers there was no need to stop to say who God was, what the Bible was, and so on. On Sunday three of the inquirers were baptised: viz., Li, the son of one of our Chinese teachers; Wen, an old man who has been attending all the year, and who keeps a little hat-shop ; and Li, a shoemaker, who gives promise of making a very warm-hearted servant of the Lord. ‘The rest are put off for a week or two. Or writing again at the close of September he gives us another glimpse : I have a dozen opium patients, who take a great deal of looking after during the day, and sometimes during the night too. We have been having large audiences at our daily evening meetings ; the Lord has stood by me; Christ has been lifted up as the only One who can supply the present and eternal needs of men. Praise God that our work is going ahead, and every month shows real progress. On Sundays our biggest room, which - we use as a chapel, is packed, and people sit outside. I am considering what is to be done for them. We may manage during the winter. I trust the room will be quite insufficient next summer ; and we must be getting ready for the showers of blessing. We have a good number of inquirers, some of whom promise very well. All this gives me great cause for thankfulness ; but I long to be out more amongst the outsiders, and wish the way were open for more street-preaching. What masses there are around us, lying in darkness and in the shadow of death! Oh for a band of Christians all on fire, who would go forth to win them for God. Country work, too, was prosecuted with ardour by all the workers, and what this meant at times is shown by the following quotation from one of Mrs. Cassels’ letters written not long after she had recovered from an illness : 122 BISHOP CASSELS Mrs. Chen and I started for her home. We had a chair ride of about five miles along pretty country lanes ; then we arrived at the river, which looked very lovely in the morning sunshine. We crossed in a ferryboat, and were carried in our chairs a few i further to the village of Chen-kia-pa. The family in which we are staying are very much interested in the Gospel. . My husband rode over again this morning before breakfast, and after prayers was about to return, but such a nice number of men had gathered in the court to see him that he sat down and preached to them. ‘The Biblewoman and I went to visit a court at the other end of the village, leaving him still preach- ing. Several women came from there yesterday and begged us to visit them to-day. Such a large number of families live in and around the court... . After short evening prayers Mrs. Chen and I had retired to rest, and I had just got into a nice sleep, when I was awakened by a great noise at the large doors ; a mob had gathered, led by the man who had gone round in the morning, and were banging the door and threatening with loud voices that they would kill the foreigner. All the household got up in great alarm and came to my door, begging us to get up quickly and dress. ‘They wanted me to go and hide in one of the rooms on the other side of the court. ‘The noise grew louder outside and the poor Chens got very much alarmed for my safety. My woman was soon dressed, but I did not get up, feeling sure that the Lord would protect me, and not allow the mob to getin. ‘Though suffering from palpitation of the heart and oppressed by a heavy cold, I was very happy and did not feel in the least afraid, for the Lord kept me in perfect peace. How Cassels was affected by such opposition the following brief reference in one of his letters makes clear : We hope to return to Chen-kia-pa all the sooner on account of the little diversion of some of the people there, or rather the annoyance shown by the devil at the good hearing given to the Gospel. Pachow, a small but busy city four days’ journey to the east of Paoning, had been recently opened, and a temporary foothold had been secured at Wanhsien, one of the most populous and important cities on the A WISE MASTER BUILDER 123 Yangtze. Converts also had been baptised both at Paoning and Pachow. How the work of God was prospering in this newly opened area is shown by a brief survey written by William Cassels in July, 1888. Look back and see if there is not reason for praise. But little over a year ago we were pleading with the Lord, amidst not a few disappointments and trials of faith, that He would give us a foothold in this district by enabling us to get a house from which to begin operations. In answer, the Lord has done “exceeding abundantly ’’, and given us altogether four houses. But little over a year since only ome missionary was in residence in this district. Now we number eleven. Go back less than a year, and how little knowledge of the truth had been made known, how few people had heard of the Saviour! Now, how different! As to the city: men and women have flocked into our guest-rooms, and crowds have listened to our preaching. All day long, one may also say, without an hour’s intermission, the preaching has been going on. The streets are placarded with tracts, and Gospel books are in the hands of a very large number of the people; a wide know- ledge of the truth is being spread abroad, and there is, as it is sometimes put, material for the Holy Spirit to work upon. As to the country around, through the efforts of my dear brother Beauchamp, some very substantial work has been done, a large number of market towns and two walled cities have been visited, and seed sown which must bring forth fruit. Go back six months, and not one soul had been won from heathendom out of the millions of Eastern Szechwan. Now, thank God, including those not as yet baptised, the Christians number nearly a score ; and though, perhaps, they may be the weak things of this world, they are growing in grace, and I am looking up to our Father to make them “ mighty to the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan”. He has begun a good work in them and will finish it. And from the very beginning Cassels sought to organise the Church with a view to its future independ- ence. In the survey just quoted he wrote : We have just lately set on foot a scheme for the distribution of the Church money, which will, I trust, stimulate the Chris- tians to continue giving. In the first place they are sending 124 BISHOP CASSELS out one of their number—a woman who has shown great aptitude for preaching and has no home ties—into the villages, to go into the houses and tell the women the Gospel message which has been the saving of her own soul. Further, they have had a number of tracts printed for their own distribution, and besides this, they are starting a plan for helping the poor, which will, I trust, be useful and wise. Thus, then, I think, without going any further, our praying friends will see that the Lord has not forgotten to be gracious, and will be encouraged to go on looking for much greater blessings. How deep was his desire for a strong and vigorous Chinese Church the following words—part of the same survey—show : 3 I feel more and more that, next to obeying the Master’s command to pray that labourers may be thrust out into the harvest fields, the important thing to bring before the Lord unceasingly is that the converts from heathenism may be kept, and built up and filled with the Holy Ghost. Our Lord’s own great prayer in John xvii., and the example of the Apostle St. Paul in all his Epistles, will surely amply justify this state- ment. So one does long that the Lord would raise up many Annas and others who would continue in supplications and prayers night and day, pleading with God to sustain and strengthen those lately snatched from heathendom, and who are the objects of the devil’s greatest malice. ‘Then will these little dots of light all over China become great fires, and then will the Gospel be carried with power all over the country. But all this progress was not secured without hard work and heavy trial. At Wanhsien, for instance, the man who had let the house to Mr. Phelps was beaten a thousand blows. Another man, the landlord of a shop which had been rented for a street chapel, received eight hundred blows, while a third man, a teacher, over two hundred strokes. Further, one or two new con- verts had been strangely tried by calamity or death within the family, almost immediately after baptism. What a trial of faith! [wrote William Cassels]. On the one hand one sees a Loving Father testing the faith of his A WISE MASTER BUILDER 125 newly declared child; on the other hand, the malice of the evil one trying to overthrow the faith of this man newly escaped out of his net. One is reminded of similar things that happened not infrequently in Shansi. How strenuously Cassels laboured and how sorely he was tried personally, the following brief extracts from several letters of this period reveal : PAONING, May 16th, 1888. Dear Horsburgh arrived on the 12th inst., having walked all the way from Wanhsien without a servant and with bad coolies. ‘The day after his arrival he was in a high fever as a result of the sun catching him on the road. I would not send you such a shabby letter, but that I am nursing my dear wife. . . . As regards medical treatment, we . are quite at our wits end, but the Lord is our Refuge. PAONING, September 4th, 1888. This evening I have begun a course of talks with the Chinese on the progress of the Gospel in other lands. I began with the marvellous transformation in New Zealand. PAONING, September 5th, 1888. The Lord in His mercy has brought my dear wife through her attack of peritonitis. Miss Hanbury’s unceasing kindness and devotion have been the saving of her. PAONING, September 30th, 1888. I have been trying to write to you for some days, but I have been pressed by work, so I am going to sit up to-night after everybody has gone to bed, and the work of the day is over, to get a little time of quiet. I have a dozen opium patients, who take a great deal of looking after at all times of the day and sometimes during the night too; the work really requires one man’s whole time. Just now there is a little manifestation of strong feeling against us on the street, which I trust the Lord will use for His own glory. We have been having large attendances at our daily evening meetings, and sometimes the Lord has given me remarkable help in speaking. 126 BISHOP CASSELS On Sundays our biggest room, which we use as a chapel, is packed, and people sit outside. ‘To-day there were over sixty present. My dear wife is almost a constant invalid and needs a good deal of looking after, and the frequent advent of friends for marriage or for business takes up a good deal of time and gives me extra household matters to attend to. Praise the Lord, notwithstanding this the work was never brighter than it is to-day. But Mrs. Cassels’ state of health was so serious it became necessary to take a brief holiday, so rest and change of work were combined. PAONING, October 13th, 1888. I am busy and feel I want a few days’ rest. I took my poor wife, who remains upon her back, on the river for two days, but it was not long enough to do either of us much good. On the river above PAONING, October 23rd, 1888. My dear wife continued so poorly and was unable to regain strength that after seeking for guidance I determined to hire a boat for ten days and take her on the river. I became somewhat reconciled to the idea of the absence from work that this would entail when the friends pointed out that it would take less time and money than a journey to England. I felt, too, that it would be an opportunity of reaching some places on the river bank which have scarcely yet been touched. Later. How great is our Father’s goodness to us! We do thank Him for allowing us to get this nice change, a comfortable boat, the lovely hills, improved health, all speak of His good- ness, and if this three months’ illness of my wife has been the greatest trial of my life, how blessed that He has promised, ‘‘ When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee ”’. I do want to get girded up with strength for our winter’s work, and trust that before the Chinese New Year many souls may be brought in and many true witnesses for Jesus raised up. A WISE MASTER BUILDER 127 PAcHOow, November 6th, 1888. The news that Arthur Polhill had been unwell determined us to hasten our start. . . . So having got back from the river on Friday, October 26th, we started the following Monday and reached Pachow in five days. Notwithstanding some delay through rain the journey was most happily accomplished. My dear wife gathered strength from day to day. I was able to do some work each day along the road, and found willing and interested listeners. The Pachow people are very friendly. I had opportunities of preaching in the Guest Hall and on the street. We are crying earnestly for workers, there are doors open all round, and none to enter them, and none even preparing to come out from home. The Lord send us His own in His own right time. Horsburgh has gone north-west to explore. It is comparatively easy to-day to tell this story of past years and note the progress made, but it is another thing adequately to realise the plod, the patience, the pertinacity demanded day in and day out. Grace abounding was needed not to be discouraged by constant difficulties, nor dismayed by incessant trials, to be for ever hopeful, ever cheerful, ever confident, come what may. George Herbert was surely right when he pictures the Church floor laid with Patience, Humility, Confidence, and Love. In these graces Cassels was doubtless helped by the quiet prayerful fellowship of the Rev. J. H. Horsburgh, whom we have already seen as a visitor among this little community. But why was he there? and what were his aspirations? for the Church Missionary Society to which he belonged had no work in Western China. He was, however, filled with ardent longings for those great unreached and unevangelised regions. But that is another story which must be reserved for a later chapter. AN ARDENT PIONEER Jesu—Son of the Virgin pure Be Thou my pilgrim staff throughout the lands, Throughout the lands, Thy love in all my thoughts—Thy likeness in my face, May I heartwarm to others, and they heartwarm to me, For love of the love of Thee, For love of the love of Thee. Old Gaelic Rune. THE preceding chapter has given us a glimpse of William Cassels as a man of prayer laying foundations. He believed, and rightly, that the hidden man of the heart was of fundamental importance to the work, but though profoundly spiritual he was sturdily practical. With all his vision he was no visionary, for his devotion was wedded to a robust common-sense. Full of fervour, he was also full of sturdy practicality. From the first he sought to gain a detailed know- ledge of the district for which he and his fellow-workers were responsible. As he itinerated he took notes of local conditions, made observations on the various cities and on the character of their peoples. He was also a keen though generous observer of men, giving careful consideration to their capacity, qualifications, and limitations in order that work and workers might be rightly related. All this is revealed in his corres- pondence with the Mission’s Executive. He had the eyes to see and the mind to plan. These gifts doubt- less developed with years, but they are obvious at the beginning, sometimes in startling fashion. Within a week of Christmas, 1888, he wrote : 128 AN ARDENT PIONEER 129 From news which reaches us a good many reinforcements ought to be on the way. Mr. and Mrs. Williams, we hear, were to have started in November, and we hear that a Miss Barclay, known to Miss Hanbury, was to accompany them. From my own parish there are also Miss Fanny Culverwell, John Hayward and his intended, Miss Martin. . . . Probably, too, there are others whom we have not heard of coming out, as the Lord is wont to do more than we expect. I am beginning, therefore, to think that you will be wanting us to make room for more workers. I suppose, at any rate, we are certain to have some more ladies here, so it is in my mind to revive the idea of which I have written to you before, and open 'l’sangki as a place for ladies’ work. Tsangki is a small hsien city sixty li north of Paoning, not on the main road to Kwangyuan and Hanchung, but on the Paoning river. It would seem a suitable place for several reasons for ladies’ work. 1. Easy of access by water as well as by land from here. 2. Not too busy or too big a place. A good many retired people live there. 3. I hear of a good many vegetarian women there—a class often easily won and zealous in spreading the truth. I am proposing to pay the Bans a visit with Mrs. Cassels and have a good look round. As for Shunking, I think you “will feel that a big place like that will need brethren’s work. May the Lord soon send brethren to us too. Early in the New Year Cassels started out on a tour of inspection, which is briefly referred to in the following : PAONING, Fanuary 17th. I returned yesterday from eight days in the country. I started on Wednesday for sangk1. On Thursday I visited a market thirty li from there. Friday I spent on the streets and in the tea-shops of 'T'sangki. I have one or two friends there, and I think a house could be got without difficulty. On Saturday morning early I rode thirty li to a market, and after half a day there, went on twenty li to the place where I was going to spend Sunday and preach. Both places are on the main road northward. Monday and Tuesday I spent at two places on the East River, at the entrance to a large and interesting district that I have long wanted to visit. No one has been up that way yet, and I hope to have an early opportunity of visiting some of K 130 BISHOP CASSELS the larger places that I was unable to reach this time. There must be nearly one thousand small one-man boats running up that river for coal, which is brought to Paoning and other cities to the south. How vast is the work, and how few and feeble are the labourers! Just now the markets are very busy because the country people are buying for the new year. One felt so terribly powerless to arrest and impress them. How it made one cry to the Lord for power. I long for prayer that I may be endued with fresh strength, and it is a joy to think that my Jesus is pleading for me at God’s side. A little later we find Mr. and Mrs. Cassels, with Miss F, M. Williams, staying-for nearly a week at Nanpu, another city, this time in the south. A month later, in April, William Cassels is at Kwangyuan, an important centre four days north, seeking for and securing a house, and ere long Miss E. Culverwell and Miss L. Bastone commenced settled work there. Premises were also secured at ‘T'sangki, though these had sub- sequently to be surrendered. Of his visit to Kwangyuan Cassels wrote : PAONING, May 1st, 1889. On the 2oth I reached Kwang- yuan, having had good times of the Lord’s presence, and good opportunities for work all along the way. On Good Friday especially I had blessed communion with the Saviour Who has done so much for me. Oh, to satisfy His heart fully! .. . As regards work, I do not think there is much fear of our stagnating in this centre (Paoning), for we are all far too keen to reach the regions beyond for that. The danger is rather that the city work may be neglected. For instance, I have a most inviting opening at a large market village half way to Kwangyuan, that is two stages from here, where I have had a number of pressing invitations to go and spend a month. .. . We hear that Mr. Horsburgh may be returning again to Szechwan at once. He mentions the district north-west of us as the one he feels drawn towards. We shall be very glad if he comes back. With cities opening and opportunities and responsi- bilities increasing, it was with peculiar joy that he AN ARDENT PIONEER ra welcomed, early in June 1889, the Rev. E. O. and Mrs. Williams with their three children, escorted by Miss S. E. Jones. Mr. Williams had been Vicar of St. Stephen’s, Leeds, which living, though he was a father of a young family, he had relinquished to respond to the call to China. The coming of such a one experi- enced in Church government was to Cassels an im- mense relief, and a cause for deep thanksgiving. PAONING, June 5th, 1889. The Williams party [he writes] have all arrived safe and well, praise God. We got the ladies and two children off on Monday, bringing them by a short cut of 25 lioverland. ‘The boat itself arrived yesterday with dear Mr. Williams. How bright and peaceful he is, so satisfied with everything. ‘The little ones are drawing crowds of visitors, the Lord has kept them in splendid health. My wife is very glad to meet Miss Jones again. The interested and excited crowds who came to see these foreign children became almost unmanageable a few days later, when an idolatrous festival caused the country people to flock into the city. At one time it became necessary to close the gates, for already from eight hundred to one thousand people had found entrance into the courtyard. With Mr. and Mrs. Williams and Miss Jones in residence Mr. and Mrs. Cassels went away for a brief change to the hills, and here for the first time we come upon the name of Sintientsi, which place, both as a centre for country work and as a refuge from the summer heat, became a veritable Bethel. Sintientsi, or “ the new inn ”’, as the name signifies, is a lonely hostel on the main north road about five miles from the nearest village. Standing on high ground among the hills it is a hill station easily acces- sible from Paoning, which is some forty miles away. The landlord was an inveterate opium smoker, who eventually sold the premises to the Mission, and though 132 BISHOP CASSELS he made several efforts to break off his evil habit and professed interest in the Gospel, he died some ten years later from drugs and disease. PAONING, July 4th, 1889. I have before mentioned Yun- lin-pu [writes Cassels], a place 180 li from here, half way to Kwangyuan. I promised that if they would find a place I would try and find time, so I set off on June 17th and found that the temple they had arranged for was entirely unsuitable, so nothing else offering just there I retraced my steps to a place I had heard of and myself seen once or twice before. It is a large wayside inn 130 li from here (named Sintientsi). Being built in an unfortunate position for travellers no one stops here, and the place is almost empty and desolate. There I found I could get several rooms in the best part of a nice courtyard for five thousand cash a month. The arrangement was completed early on the morning of the 19th, and the same night I got back to the Fu. Early on the 21st I left again with my wife, and by noon on the 22nd we were comfortably settled in our country abode. The devil seeks to withstand every step of our onward march. He did not like us taking possession of this country place, which is called Sintientsi—the new inn—and the local Pao-chen made a great noise, until the Lord enabled me to win him over. ‘There has been serious opposition at Kwang- yuan too. On Sunday, July 21, shortly after the return of Mr. and Mrs. Cassels from Sintientsi to Paoning, their first child, Jessie Ida, was born. What joy and glad- ness this good gift from God meant to them in this far-away station can only in part be understood by parents at home. “ Blessed be childhood’, wrote Amiel, “ which brings down something of Heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness. All the good and wholesome feeling which is entwined with child- hood and the cradle is one of the secrets of a provi- dentially governed world.” And this home among the heathen became more lovely by the prattle of a little child. AN ARDENT PIONEER 133 The Chinese, who regarded Mr. and Mrs. Williams as particularly blessed because their children were sons, were disappointed that Mr. and Mrs. Cassels’ child should be a daughter! ‘This, however, only made the welcome accorded this little girl a more powerful object lesson of what Christ had done for human life. “They cannot understand why we all love a little girl somuch”’, wrote Miss Williams, and as every babe, especially since Bethlehem, has its message, so had little Jessie. The neighbours flocked with natural curiosity to see the sight, and fresh friendships were formed and prejudices removed, so that unconsciously the little one early began to open doors and hearts to the Gospel. Though Mrs. Cassels suffered severely from sun- stroke shortly after this, she and Mr. Cassels, with the babe, when only two months old, visited Kwangyuan. This was a trying journey, for as the rain set in they all arrived drenched to the skin, but mother and child suffered no harm, while their coming brought no little cheer to the two brave sisters who were holding the fort there alone, and again they proved the coming of the babe opened fresh hearts and homes to the Gospel. It was just about this time that Cassels was much helped by the quiet testimony of a little Chinese child. There was an old man, a maker of cheap hats, who for some time had attended the services but without show- ing any evidence of special interest. He was, however, having daily prayer at home. Concerning this home and family, Cassels wrote : The other day—and this is what cheered me—one of our Christian women was there after dark ; it was getting late, and 1 Jessie Ida Cassels, now Mrs. P. A. Bruce, who subsequently joined her father and the Mission in the work. 134 BISHOP CASSELS his little child wanted to go to bed. “ Father’’, she said, ‘“ will you have prayers? I want to go to bed.” ‘The old man replied that he was busy, and that she must go to bed without prayers. ‘The little one persistently protested that she could not go to bed without prayers, and at last her father: laid aside his work to satisfy her, remarking that she would not be pacified until they had worshipped. The little one said a verse of a hymn, and they all knelt while the old man prayed, then the child went to bed happy. This is to me like the blossoming of the first rose in the desert, and the beginning of the fulfilment of the promise. There is to be abundant blossom yet. ‘The Lord send the showers down ! South of Kwangyuan is the city of Chaohwa, which Cassels visited seeking for another open door. In spite of difficulties a house was rented, but no sooner had he left than the official put the landlord in chains and cast him into prison. ‘Thinking this had happened because there was no one in possession, Miss S. E. Jones volunteered to go. It was no easy task, for immedi- ately she reached the city the landlord’s mother met her, calling upon heaven at the top of her voice for help in her distress. Stormy scenes followed, and Miss Jones called upon the official, who, with many professions of friendship and reflections on the bad manners of the people, advised her to stay in an inn and not insist upon possession of the house. ‘The truth was hard to learn, but she found the people friendly, and courageously held on in spite of many difficulties. I must say [she wrote to Mr. Cassels] that it has paid me well to go through this; God has been so real, so near, so precious—my God, my Father. It was peace, perfect peace, every step of the way. And this little upset from Satan and his devoted ones has only increased the peace and rest. These things do bring us into more sympathy with our Master. Concerning the situation at this time William Cassels wrote : AN ARDENT PIONEER 135 PAONING, November 27th, 1889. How thankful we ought to be for such wide open doors, and that there is no hindrance to the freest preaching of the Gospel on the highways and byways, in tea-shops and markets. Hughesdon has been away for a couple of months itinerating in the Shunking district. Beauchamp has lately spent several days at Chien- chow, a town 80 miles to the north-west, and has now gone off again in the opposite direction, south-east. Gull has been working away in the Guest Hall here. The sisters at Kwang- yuan are daily on the streets and in the people’s houses. Miss Jones has been receiving women in the inn at Chaohwa, and has had invitations to many homes. Miss Williams has had a nice class with our school-boys, and both she and my wife have women’s classes here and in the country, and with Miss Hanbury find many open doors for work. At Pachow, too, our dear brother, Arthur Polhill, continues his unremitting efforts in preaching the Gospel. So you see it is utterly wrong to say that there are no open doors. ‘The need is to see to it that we avail ourselves of all of them, and that we preach the Word with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven... . I feel so much that in the matter of Chaohwa there were two courses, the one was to retire at the first burst of opposi- tion ; everybody was against this. But I am not sure now whether it would not have been the better plan. We took the other course, and finding the people favourable, and only the magistrate hostile, determined to stick to the house. Well, we have done so, and the agreement remains locked up with my other papers, but what is the next step ? But though 1889 closed with trial at Chaohwa the new year, 1890, brought welcome reinforcements. These were the Misses P. and F. Barclay, F. Culver- well, and N. Martin, the last two from his former parish. There was also another old parishioner and lay reader, J. N. Hayward, who was appointed to Wanhsien. ‘The coming of these friends both rejoiced his heart and inspired new ambitions. A LOVER OF ORDER The fetters Thou imposest, O Lord, are wings of freedom. My strength is proportionate to the strength of those cords that bind me. I am never so unrestrained as when I am constrained by Thy love. Put round about my heart the cord of Thy captivating love and draw me whither in my light I would not go. Bind me to Thyself as Thou bindest the planets to the sun that it may become the very law of my nature to be led by Thee -—GrorcE MATHESON. Not only was Cassels an ardent pioneer, he was also a fervent lover of order. He believed in lengthening the cords and also in strengthening the stakes. ‘This bent of mind must have been innate for it asserted itself from the beginning. It was not any ambition to rule, for he welcomed direction from others over him inthe Lord. In view of the great responsibilities which ultimately devolved upon him, it is highly interesting to note his instinctive qualifications for government. He was by nature a builder, and as the builder of a new diocese he will be remembered. The Mission he had joined was by principle inter- denominational, but it is one thing to profess principles and another to embody them. At one time some doubted whether it were possible within the limits of such an interdenominational Mission to organise successfully a loyal Church of England section. Such doubts had been publicly expressed. Cassels proved it could be done, and this in itself was no small achieve- ment. He saw his objective and held a straight course to secure it. To do this demanded judgment, deter- 136 A LOVER OF ORDER 137 mination, and tact. In this chapter we shall see him setting his helm and steering with steady courage between Scylla and Charybdis. As early as July 1889 we find him writing : I have for the last two years felt intensely the importance of walking closely in the paths of order and regulation expected by our Mission, and so essential for the welfare of our work. It was only a day or two ago that I was noticing in Deuteronomy Xxxili. 5 1 that the Lord is then specially our King when there is order and unity and proper authority. I believe it to be God’s plan. May the Lord send us some more brethren soon. When in the comparatively small district (that is to say, just about the size of England without Wales) that we are attempting to work there is so much ground to cover, it is, of course, quite impossible for us to go two and two, so individual brethren have to go out alone, plunging alone into untouched districts, venturing alone into great heathen cities with all their dangers and temptations and masses of prejudiced and hardened and preoccupied idolaters, and hastily and alone paying the briefest visits to thronging markets crowded as they are here in Sze- chwan with seething masses of buyers and sellers—nay, is that all? Alas, no !—with seething masses of unwarned and un- washed souls, living sad and hopeless lives and passing away to sad and more hopeless deaths! One knows that this going out alone is not our Master’s Will and plan. Will you ask, dear Mr. Taylor, while you are at home, whether it is His people’s will and plan, and if not, whether they are doing their best to remedy it? For ourselves, have we any other course but to the utmost of our strength and time to go out obeying our marching orders, and whether with companions or without, preach the Gospel to all we can? To him obedience to marching orders was funda- mental. And so were unity, order, and authority. These were essential parts of God’s plan. With the free-lance, therefore, he had small sympathy. One or two quotations from his early letters will illustrate this. 1“ And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.” 138 BISHOP CASSELS July 4th, 1889. I have been talking with on the sub- ject of your note, and stating my views that we ought to ask the Lord to guide those whom He has set over us, and then take it for granted that He does. Fuly 12th, 1889. I do feel so much that for the welfare of our work and the existence of the whole Mission, the prin- ciples of order and obedience to authority are most essential. April 16th, 1892. I have been waiting for instructions from Shanghai on two or three matters, and it goes a good deal against my sense of order to act without waiting for them, but I have not known what else to do. This unwillingness to act without instructions is manifest time and again in his early correspondence, and even after he had in 1890 been appointed by Mr. Hudson Taylor as Assistant Superintendent for his district, he was still reluctant to take action alone, as the above letter dated 1892 proves. One other quotation, though of a slightly later date, must be given to emphasise this trait in his character. During his absence from China on his first furlough he gathered from correspondence that some laxity was asserting itself within the district, in consequence of which he wrote to Mr. Stevenson at Shanghai as follows : BLACKHEATH, September 18th, 1894. I trust you will con- tinue to discourage all unauthorised movements. Self-govern- ment spreads like wildfire when it once begins and is terribly catching, and most injurious to the harmony of the whole work. Better to check it at once, even if it causes a temporary ex- plosion Since writing the above I have seen some letters from Szechwan which give special point to my remarks. One of the letters says, ‘“‘ We have no Superintendent now, so we all do what is right in our own eyes”’. The special move referred to may have been quite right, but the principle is horrible, and shows that some fail to understand that the Superintendent’s work returns to you. But the most instructive part of Cassels’ corre- spondence of those early years is that which reveals the A LOVER OF ORDER 139 steady determination and scrupulous care with which he sought to build up a work within the China Inland Mission loyal and consistent to Church of England principles. It is evident that Bishop G. E. Moule was at first doubtful as to the possibility of this being done, and this doubt perhaps led him to ask for a closer supervision than was normally demanded by a Bishop. As we only possess one side of this correspondence it is not possible fully to reconstruct the story, but a series of extracts from Cassels’ letters will give a picture of the man with clear eye and steady hand steering the middle course between extremes, determined on the one hand that Bishop Moule should have no just cause of complaint, and on the other hand courteously ‘re- minding the Mission Authorities at Shanghai, during Hudson T’aylor’s absence, that he was asking no more and no less than was in accordance with the Mission’s principles. In illustration of this we now propose to give, with a minimum of comment, extracts from a series of letters. CHENGTU, July 14th, 1887. Your kind letter of May 30th, enclosing one from Bishop Moule, just come to hand. I will write to the Bishop when I have had opportunity of praying over the matter, and the Lord will guide me as to what to say. The “‘ power of the purse’ is one which is held by no English Bishop. Questions of “ living”’ and also of move- ments are in England only in a very small degree in the hand of the Bishop; generally he has no say at all in the matter, as would be the case here. So the two-fold authority is almost always divided in England and does not lead to trouble. But I am not careful about the matter in the very least. It is in God’s hands. I believe too much in the Scripturalness of the Church of England to leave it. But if the Bishop finds the difficulties too great I can look beyond him to a greater overruling Power. May God give us to walk in love towards one another. ‘The greatest thing is to please Him and extend His Kingdom. ‘The Lord give us to do this. YaNccHow, October 18th, 1887. In conversation with you at Shanghai I suggested (1) that as Bishop Moule decided not 140 BISHOP CASSELS to act through you, any stipulations that he proposed to make with you about the East Szechwan plan would naturally fall through. (2) And further, that I never heard of any Bishop requiring his clergy to submit to him for approval the names or qualifications of his parochial workers. And when the Bishop touched on the subject to me I told him that you were certain only to send to us those who were in full sympathy with our modes of work, or you would be doing your best to overthrow the plan you were yourself so desirous to see carried out. CHENGTU, April 30th, 1892. I write to report that I reached here on Wednesday, and that yesterday, Friday, Grainger and Miss Broman were married by me. It has been pleasant to meet Dr. Parry and the other workers here, and one’s heart has been filled with joy as one looks back and contrasts the work in this province when I last came to this city a little over five years ago with what it is now. ‘Then two stations, now a dozen. ‘Then ten workers, now seventy or eighty of all Missions. ‘Then twenty or thirty converts, now ten times that number all told, and reinforcements are, I hear, still coming. | I am informed here that Mr. Marshall Broomhall is on his way to Paoning with some new workers, one of whom is said to be a Plymouth Brother. How glad I shall be to welcome any fresh workers that are likely to be a blessing to poor souls. Unless there is some special reason for it it is unlikely that a Plymouth Brother is designated for our district, especially as there are both Churchmen and Churchwomen who would gladly have come to work with us. Personally I would gladly welcome anyone who loves the Lord, and who is in harmony with the Mission, but it is not so comfortable for those whose prejudices are strong, and whose sympathies are not catholic, to come and work with us. There is, however, one aspect of this matter, which it may save trouble hereafter if I allude to now. When I was at Ningpo in the autumn Bishop Moule told me that it had been suggested that his representative at Shanghai should interview any workers 1 The rumour was in part false. The writer had been sent by Mr. Hudson Taylor to Ichang to engage boats and assist Mr. Horsburgh’s party in their journey west, and at the same time to escort Mr. and Mrs. Walter Taylor and son to Paoning, travelling up river in the rear of Mr. Horsburgh’s party in case any of their boats should be shipwrecked. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Taylor were Church of England workers. The false rumour, however, called forth a highly instructive letter. A LOVER OF ORDER I4I designated for our field. Such an action seemed to me to be hardly necessary. A Bishop at home never exercises any con- trol or has anything to do with the choice of the lay workers in a parish unless they apply for any special lay licence, that matter rests solely with the Vicar of the parish. But since at the request and by the desire of the Authorities of our Mission he is kindly giving us time and trouble, the least that can be done to meet the Bishop’s wishes is that only Churchmen and Churchwomen should be associated with the Clergy whom he has been asked to license and oversee Epis- copally, and, of course, that all ordained men, or those who intend to apply for any kind of licence, should have the inter- view, or if that is difficult, correspond with himself or his representative before being sent into the district. I have not suggested the formation of a Church district or even asked to be put into such a district, it was a carrying out of a principle of the Mission, and it was dear Mr. Taylor who very kindly suggested that I should come to such a district. Now the districts having been formed I know that you, dear Mr. Stevenson, are above all people anxious that it should be made a bona-fide thing, so I write these few letters to you feeling these matters will commend themselves to you, or to whomsoever is at this time in charge in Shanghai. PAONING, July 15th, 1892. ‘The information given me at Chengtu was incorrect. I was told that Broomhall was escort- ing brother to Paoning, and our friends there knew him as a Plymouth Brother, and asked how it was. ‘This led to my letter, and gave a convenient opportunity for referring to my conversation with Bishop Moule, of which I had already told Mr. Hudson Taylor. The matter of reinforcements I have always gladly pre- ferred to leave wholly in the Lord’s hands, and unless there has been special leading have refused to hinder his direct working, so much so that in one or two cases I have preferred to let Church people be sent elsewhere rather than interfere by asking for them. Should there not be some very special leading to cause any but Church people being sent to this district ? December 30th, 1892. I am thankful to hear from you of the reinforcements. I shall be glad to have them all, and I shall heartily welcome one and all. My only fear is that Bishop Moule will feel we are not quite keeping faith with him, and I do not quite know how to explain the matter to him. He is now asking the Church Missionary Society to relieve him of all responsibility connected with Horsburgh’s 142 BISHOP CASSELS party, owing to Horsburgh’s disregard for Church principles,’ etc., and I should grieve very much if he lost confidence in us. It is very kind of you, dear Mr. Stevenson, to express confidence in any arrangements which devolve on me here. But I am always most thankful to feel that I am a man under authority, and I would not lightly give up the strength and support which it is to have someone over me in the Lord in all matters. I was noticing on one page of my Bible the other day : Submission in the State, 1 Peter ii. 13, etc. Submission in the Household, 1 Peter ii. 18, etc. RV Submission in the Family, 1 Peter iii. 1. Ase Submission in the Church, 1 Peter v. 5, see vv. 1 to 4. ¢ and this is enforced by the “ pattern of the Heavenly ”, the angels being subject to Christ (ch. ii. 22) without going to other passages which speak of Christ being subject to God, etc.;"€tc: These observations on Scripture are a revelation of the man’s mind, for people are only impressed by that which interests them. The artist sees beauty, the musician hears melody, and the scientist observes laws that others do not note. With Cassels his eyes and other faculties were open for light on principles of government. In order to study this aspect of our subject we have advanced ahead of our narrative. But the motives which move a man are more important and more illuminating for the understanding of character than the man’s actual movements. We must now, however, pick up the threads of our story, and the first in importance relates to the coming of workers connected with the Church Missionary Society to West China under the guidance of the Rev. J. H. Horsburgh. 1 Mr. Horsburgh, under date of December 10, 1925, writes: ‘“‘ When Mr. Cassels returned to Szechwan as Bishop I found his Church of England views were strengthening, whereas mine, as regards work in China, already at a low ebb, were fading away! But this never interfered with our brotherly love.” MR. HORSBURGH’S ENTERPRISE So with the Lord: He takes and He refuses, Finds Him ambassadors whom men deny, Wise ones nor mighty for His saints He chooses, No, such as John or Gideon or I. F. W. H. Myers. For long years the work of the Church Missionary Society in China had been confined to three coast provinces, with additional stations at Shanghai and Hongkong. But in the spring of 1888 the Rev. J. Heywood Horsburgh, having obtained permission from his Society, visited Szechwan, travelling west with Arthur Polhill-Turner and Albert Phelps, who were returning to their posts after ordination at Ningpo by Bishop Moule. To Mr. Horsburgh’s arrival at Pao- ning suffering from sunstroke reference has already been made. ‘The story of this visit west was described by Mr. Horsburgh in such graphic letters that the greatest interest was awakened at home. “ Rarely, if ever,” wrote Dr. Eugene Stock, “‘ have we received so many letters about a missionary narrative.’’ The needs of the new field, the possibilities and promises of a fresh venture of faith, were set forth with such persuasive earnestness that when in 1890, during his furlough, Mr. Horsburgh urged the Church Missionary Society to undertake a new Mission to Szechwan on lines of unusual simplicity, he obtained his Society’s qualified approval after long and careful consideration on their 143 144 BISHOP CASSELS part. Thereupon he issued an appeal, the first two paragraphs of which were as follows : The Committee of the Church Missionary Society have sanctioned a scheme under which a little band of missionaries will, God willing, go to the province of Szechwan. This province alone has a population of probably thirty-five millions, and has an area more than three times the size of England. The little handful of missionaries (chiefly China Inland Mission) who are working so faithfully there have long been praying that God will send others into the vast needy districts of that province, which they are quite unable to touch. Szechwan is a healthy province, and the people are, of course, quite as intelligent and civilised as they are near the coast. We hope to work on simple Native lines, as do the China Inland Mission. We shall have no foreign buildings, nor big institutions of any kind, but live in Native houses, wear the Native dress, conform as far as may be to Native customs, and eat (those who will) the wholesome Native food. We shall be emphatically an evangelistic and itinerant Mission. In the course of this appeal Mr. Horsburgh intro- duced, in answer to some supposed objections, that now familiar phrase “‘ Do not Say’! and then closed his article with these moving words : The world is dying “ without God”. And we might go to them. We might, but we don’t! Oh, why are we not heart- broken? Why are we not on our faces before God! Why do not these things move us? Why do we not do something? My brothers and sisters, what will you do? Will you not do something ? Will you go and settle this with God ? Concerning this appeal the Church Missionary Society, which published it in their official organ, appended the following comment : It will be seen at once that Mr. Horsburgh’s plan is for a purely evangelistic and itinerant mission, entirely “ on simple 1 Mr. Horsburgh’s booklet published at this time under the title of ‘‘ Do Not Say ’’, “‘ has perhaps’’, to quote Dr. Eugene Stock, ‘‘ been used of God to touch more hearts and to send more men and women into the Mission Field both from England and from the Colonies than any modern publication ”’. MR. HORSBURGH’S ENTERPRISE = 145 Native lines’. In so far as this plan has been proved to be a good one, let us not for a moment forget that the example has been nobly set by the China Inland Mission: and let us humbly thank God for teaching us lessons through another Society. Perhaps we of the Church Missionary Society have been too ready to worship our own drag and net, and imagine ourselves perfect. At the same time, Mr. Horsburgh’s methods are not entirely those of the China Inland Mission. He is, in fact, far more revolutionary. He will employ no Native agents ; the China Inland Mission, like all other Missions, does employ them. He will have “no foreign buildings nor big institu- tions’? ; the China Inland Mission has one of the finest houses in the foreign settlement at Shanghai (as it deserves to have, and indeed is obliged to have), and its English School at Chefoo is in every sense a great institution. He says that two missionaries may, “in ordinary circumstances ”’, live on {50 a year; the China Inland Mission does not say so, and its most devoted members find that with all economy they need more. Now the Church Missionary Society Committee have felt that God was calling on them to give Mr. Horsburgh full liberty to try his own plans, in his own way, and with helpers of the same mind. But they are not going to call on other brethren to work on the same lines. . . We do not say all this from any lack of sympathy with our dear brother and his plans. On the contrary, we rejoice that he is to make his interesting experiment in his own way. The latter part of Mr. Horsburgh’s appeal is most forcible, and we wish it could be circulated everywhere. May God write its fervid words on many hearts. In response to this appeal a band of volunteers speedily offered themselves, and in the autumn of 1891 they set forth for China. This party of fifteen con- sisted of the Rev. J. H.and Mrs. Horsburgh, with two children, the Rev. O. M. Jackson, seven laymen, four of whom were not enrolled as Church Missionary Society missionaries but were independently supported, and five single ladies1 Shanghai was reached in 1 Rev. J. H. and Mrs. Horsburgh, Rev. O. M. Jackson, Messrs. D. A. Callum, E. B. Vardon,A. A. Phillips, W. L. Knipe, J. A. Hickman, Simmonds, J. G. Beach; Misses E. D. Mertens, E. Garnett, Gertrude Wells, Alice Entwistle, and Rose Lloyd. L 146 BISHOP CASSELS December 1891, and Szechwan in the spring or early summer of the following year. The settlement of this party proved more difficult than had been anticipated, for shortly before their arrival in the west Messrs. Beauchamp and Parsons had been forcibly ejected from Shunking, and official opposition to foreign residence was in consequence stiffened generally. ‘They were therefore obliged to scatter temporarily to China Inland Mission centres, and await an opening into their new territory, which lay to the west of the China Inland Mission sphere. A glimpse of Cassels preparing for the welcome of Mr. and Mrs. Horsburgh is given in the following extracts from one of Mrs. Cassels’ letters : Just now we are away from home staying in the country at a house we have taken for resting and recruiting in the very hot weather. It is two thousand feet higher than Paoning and so much cooler. We are now getting it repaired and in order for Mr. and Mrs. Horsburgh and some of their party. I daresay you have heard of them. ‘They are coming to live here for a time, as we can take them in. ‘This is a nice large house, and quite in the country, a splendid place for study. We also hope to keep some rooms for the use of tired, weary workers from Paoning. And we hope each in turn will get a time up here. The house was in great need of repairs, so my husband had to come to see after it, and I accompanied him with little Jessie. It is a great treat to be alone together. We have very rarely lived alone for a week since our marriage, so this is a real honeymoon. The next twelve to eighteen months were by no means easy for these pioneers. Though the people were friendly, no new doors were opened to them, mainly because of official opposition. | Extensive journeys, however, were made, especially by the men of the party, while some of the ladies endured the hardships of living for months in Chinese inns. But the year 1894 at length brought its reward, MR. HORSBURGH’S ENTERPRISE — 147 which year became known as “the year of openings ”’, for within little more than twelve months entrance into six walled cities was secured. In January Mr. and Mrs. Jackson occupied Chungpa, a few months later Mr. and Mrs. Callum and Miss Mertens entered Sintuhsien, at the end of May Mr. and Mrs. Phillips obtained a home in Mienchuhsien, in June Mr. and Mrs. Knipe gained entry into Mienchow, and some months later into Anhsien, while in January 1895 Messrs. Hickman and Simmonds secured an opening in Shihchiian, a city among the mountains. Of those early days Mr. A. A. Phillips? wrote in the autumn of 1808 : On these journeys we took no native helpers, and we had to find out for ourselves very generally the customs obtaining in the inns, shops, markets, and everyday life of the people. This was about the best thing that could befall us. Although we sometimes paid expensively for experience, it became our own. It was a dreary prospect for the opening of Mission stations, especially after the rebuffs at Maochow and Kienchow in the spring and summer of 1893. But then, just when we were ready with a sufficient command of the language and general experience, just before the war with Japan, followed by the Chengtu riots, just in God’s time, six cities were opened in succession in less than eighteen months. And these six stations, no more, no less, we hold to the present time. The district in which these cities were located was approximately as large as England south of York, and the stations mentioned may be said roughly to corres- pond geographically with Ventnor, London, Oxford, Cambridge, and Nottingham. On the west it touched the borders of Tibet, and on the east was contiguous with the China Inland Mission district. Though Cassels during those early years had no official responsibility toward this new venture, he rendered it invaluable help as a personal friend and 1 Now the Rev. A. A. Phillips of Norwich. 148 BISHOP CASSELS wise counsellor. Concerning those times Mr. Hors- burgh has recently written : | Our Church Missionary Society West China Mission owes a great debt to the China Inland Mission, beginning at Shanghai and at all their stations up the river and at Chengtu, for in- valuable help and manifold kindnesses. And especially is it indebted to Messrs. Cassels and Beauchamp, for it is due to the encouragement, advice, and help given both from the very first and afterwards that the Mission in Szechwan came into being. The bond of love and mutual esteem which from the first was established between the workers of these two Missions was to be more closely cemented and officially recognised in days to come. IN LABOURS MORE ABUNDANT I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat —MILTon. In recalling Mr. Horsburgh’s venture in which Cassels was so deeply and sympathetically interested, and with which he soon became officially related, we have ceased for a moment to follow the main stream of our story in order to trace the rise of another river with which it was to be united. It is therefore now necessary to retrace our steps a little lest some important landmarks be overlooked. During 1890 Mr. and Mrs. Cassels were absent from West China for nearly nine months, and of this period, when the regular correspondence with Shanghai ceased, little beyond the main outlines can now be recovered. At the end of March they, with little Jessie, left Paoning to attend the great Missionary Conference which met during May of that year at Shanghai. Much as we covet some knowledge of Cassels’ impressions of those important gatherings, which cannot but have been of profound interest and value to him, unhappily no written record of his views has come to light. Without question he would enter heart and soul into the spirit of Mr. Hudson Taylor’s Conference sermon, and into the Conference appeal for a thousand new workers. Few would echo more fervently those words : 149 150 BISHOP CASSELS We make this appeal [the Conference wrote] on behalf of three hundred millions of unevangelised heathen ; we make © it with the earnestness of our whole hearts, as men over- whelmed with the magnitude and responsibility of the work before us ; we make it with unwavering faith in the power of the 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. We can imagine, too, the joy and thankfulness with which he would welcome at Shanghai the Rev. C. H. Parsons, first of Australasia’s contingent to the China Inland Mission, and one who was to be his faithful and loyal colleague in Paoning until his (Cassels) death thirty-five years later. And not least among his rich experiences would be the personal fellowship with Hudson Taylor. Four years had elapsed since he had met him in Shansi, years full of problems and trials, which would enable him to profit more highly from the mature wisdom of the experienced Founder of the Mission. And Hudson ‘Taylor, too, had learned some- thing of the gifts and graces of his young friend, and it was on this occasion that he appointed him Assistant Superintendent of the Mission’s work in East Szechwan, an appointment which gave him a seat on the China Council of the Mission, which for three weeks after the Conference was closely engaged on important problems of organisation. All this was to him of real educational value, both for his own immediate sphere, and for a fuller knowledge of the general work of the Mission. By the time these meetings were over any immediate return to West China was impossible, for the Yangtze was in flood, as it always is in summer. ‘Traffic up the rapids and through the gorges was perforce suspended. Mr. and Mrs. Cassels and Jessie, therefore, proceeded IN LABOURS MORE ABUNDANT J ts1 for some months to Anking, the Mission’s Language School for men, where a period of helpful study was secured, while his ministrations of the Word proved of lasting value to the younger students. One little incident during this stay in Anking 1s worth recording, for though we call it little in relation to the evangelisation of China, it was by no means of small import to the father and mother concerned. It is one of those incidents which throws a brilliant side- light upon the trials of parenthood in the Mission field, of which comparatively little is heard. It is never an easy or light task to nurture a young child through the trying heat of a Central China summer, and to assist in this Mr. and Mrs. Cassels had, through their good friend, Miss Hanbury, ordered from England a supply of Allen & Hanbury’s food for little Jessie. After months of waiting this had safely reached Shanghai, and was there entrusted to the care of a young worker who was going up river. The river steamers are notorious for thieves, and these found a ready prey in this most hapless of all travellers, whom they fleeced of everything, the infant’s food included. No comment on such a loss is necessary for parents, and especially for any mother. But one needs to be months away from the sources of supply to fully appreciate it. Late in the autumn, when the waters of the river had fallen, Mr. and Mrs. Cassels returned to Shanghai in preparation for their journey west, and in order that they might be present at the ordination as Priests of Arthur Polhill and Albert Phelps, which took place in the cathedral on October 24. Three days later they started west, being joined at various centres by new workers who needed their escort, and a goodly party they made. In addition to Mr.and Mrs. Cassels, there 152 BISHOP CASSELS were the Rev. C. H. Parsons, the Rev. A. Phelps, Miss Kolkenbeck, and Messrs. Evans, Grainger, Hardman, and Willett. In the course of the boat journey west Cassels wrote : I was never more conscious of my own insufficiency, but surely I must say I know the Master’s mighty power better than ever, and have more reason than ever to be confident that He will not fail me nor forsake me. Our boat made slow progress from Ichang until past Kweichow, but two nights ago letters reached me showing that it was important that’ we should get on as quickly as possible, so we asked the Lord for a favourable breeze, and yesterday and to-day we have been flying along grandly before the wind He has sent us. . . . Oh that it may be an anticipation of the spiritual breeze He is going to send us ! It has been the greatest cheer to me to receive such a number of kind and sympathetic letters from the various stations in my district. Again in 1891 Cassels was called to Shanghai for the Mission’s Council Meetings, Mr. Taylor having returned from Australasia. This call came at a time of considerable perplexity and strain in China. Questions of far-reaching importance concerning the Mission’s arrangements and organisation were under discussion, while the work in the whole of China was being threatened by a series of organised riots, especi- ally in the region of the Yangtze valley. At the river station Wusiieh, east of Hankow, a young Wesleyan missionary and a European Customs official had been killed, and many Mission premises, especially Roman Catholic, had been destroyed. What all this meant to Mr. and Mrs. Cassels, who were separated for two and a half months at this time, the following portion of one of her letters will suggest : SINTIENTSI, June 14th, 1892. So many thanks for your kind letters written during the time the riots were going on in this IN LABOURS MORE ABUNDANT 153 land. ‘The Lord kept us in perfect peace trusting in Him. Just after they began my dear husband was called to Shanghai to attend the annual Council Meetings of the China Inland Mission, which meant nearly three months’ absence from home. It was hard to part with him just then, the more so as he had te pass right through the places where the riots had been and were still going on. But the Lord enabled us to commit each other to His keeping, and he went to do his duty in Shanghai, and little Jessie and I were left at home. “ God zs our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in time of trouble’, and He did keep me “‘ quiet from fear of evil ”’. Every mail brought fresh news of the disturbances, and before long I had a letter from my husband written in an inn at Ichang, where he arrived some few days after the riot. He told of the heap of ruins that was all to be seen where once handsome houses stood, one in particular, belonging to a missionary with whom we had stayed, and from whom we had received much kindness on the way back from the Conference to Szechwan. | The Lord 1s faithful, and He brought back my dear husband in peace and safety, after an absence of two months and a half. During the time the rioting was going on I went on to the street daily, visiting throughout the city. I often took my little Jessie with me (she is now nearly three years old), and the people were always very friendly, and often I had particu- larly good times. . . . Reports of the riots were soon circulated, with all kinds of wild stories about the foreigners, but none of those who knew anything of us believed them. Others did, and talked to our Christians and enquirers of the kind of people they had joined themselves to! Really we were made out to be perfect mon- sters of wickedness by these stories, and I am not surprised that the Chinese who did not know us and believed these awful tales to be true, should think we were unfit to live. However, we mixed with the people as much as we possibly could, feeling it was the best way to disarm suspicion, and gradually we lived down the wild reports, and the people were soon as friendly as ever. We were able to help many who were sick by simple remedies, and this, too, had a good effect. During that time of which I have been writing the Lord gave us very special blessing, first ourselves, and then it flowed out to the Chinese, and we had quite a time of revival. Early in this year we had fifteen baptisms at Paoning, and also some at Pachow and Kwangyuan, other stations in our districts. 1s4 BISHOP CASSELS Among the incidents of this journey to Shanghai and back was the being wrecked in the gorges on the return journey, when he was escorting the Misses Hanbury and F. M. Williams, who had been to the coast for a needed change. Happily the wreck was not of a serious nature. Paoning was safely reached on the 1st of December 1891. The year 1892 was a time of mingled trial and rejoicing. Among the causes for rejoicing was the coming of Mr. Horsburgh’s party, of which some account has already been given. Another cause was a number of baptisms, and of those baptised reference must be made to two, Mr. Ku Ho-lin and Mr. Wang T'song-ih. , Ku Ho-lin was the grandson of the Mohammedan woman from whom the Mission premises at Paoning had been secured. At that time, 1887, he had been but a small lad who evidenced much curiosity—some- times embarrassing—about the foreigners and their belongings. Although of Mohammedan parents he soon joined the Mission School, and early became a youthful convert. Of fifteen converts received into the Church by baptism on the 16th of the first month of the Chinese year, Ku Ho-lin was one, and of that occasion Mrs. Cassels wrote : One of the scholars from our Boys’ School was also baptised, named Ku Ho-lin, the grandson of our landlady, a Moham- medan. We praise God for His workings in this family. Ever since we came to Paoning to live this boy has been interested in the truth, and has been gradually growing in the knowledge of Jesus. Until within the last year his grandmother seemed untouched by the Gospel and inclined to oppose her grand- son’s being baptised. Now, thank God, she is entirely changed, and it is very evident that the Holy Spirit is working in her heart. She comes regularly to the Sunday services and the enquirers’ classes, and it was with her entire consent that the boy was baptised into the Christian Church. Of course, it IN LABOURS MORE ABUNDANT | 155 means opposition and perhaps persecution from other Moham- medans and members of the family, but praise God that He has made them willing for it. ‘The boy is so bright, and just now has taken up the work of starting a branch of the “ Young People’s Scripture Union ”’ as a work for Jesus. Little did Mrs. Cassels or any other at that time realise what the future had in store for this lad, who subsequently became Archdeacon, and of whom more will be heard. The other candidate for baptism of whom we must speak was a very different character. His life story has been briefly told in a booklet written by Cassels himself, in which he speaks of him as “ one of the most remarkable Christians connected with the little Paoning church’’, An adopted son of the family Wang, he lived a wild and reckless life, being ultimately dismissed from his regiment for opium smoking, which was then a breach of military discipline. He returned to his home at Peh-miao-ch’ang (The Hundred Temples Market) and sought peace by every Buddhist and Confucian precept. After years of spiritual dissatisfaction with these and with Roman Catholic instruction also, he found his way to the newly opened Mission station at Paoning, coming out finally on the Lord’s side at Christmas, 1891. Just before Christmas Cecil Polhill, who was seeking to open Sungpan as a base for ‘Tibetan work, came to Paoning in quest of a Chinese companion. He mentioned the matter to me [wrote Cassels]. My difficulty was that it was contrary to our practice to employ our Christians or catechumens, if it could possibly be avoided, for the reason, so well understood in China, that the witness vf Christians (especially in small and young Churches) who have been taken into employ is so much less powerful than that of those who are entirely independent. I felt, however, that if our brother’s prayer was of the Lord, He would find a way to answer it without causing any hurt to our little Church. 156 BISHOP CASSELS So we prayed for guidance, and took no further step at that moment. | On Christmas Day the Holy Spirit was manifestly working in our midst, and the service, instead of closing as usual, took the form of a sort of consecration meeting at which our Chris- tians and catechumens were found ready to yield up to the Lord, out of love to Him, various things which might prove a hindrance to them. One, for instance, brought up his tobacco-pipe ; others resolved to give up their wine; and so on. Witnessing this spirit with great joy, it occurred to me afterwards that possibly someone might offer to go with Mr. Polhill-’Turner as a volunteer. A day or two afterwards our brother had an opportunity of addressing our people and of_stating his needs. At the close of that service, in answer to a very guarded sort of appeal, Wang stood up and declared his readiness to go. Now, it had already occurred to us that Wang would be a very suitable man in many ways. He had been in the neigh- bourhood of Sungpan; he could write and read well, and would thus be a help in drawing up a deed of rental; he would not be above doing rough and menial work and acting as a servant on the road. But I felt it to be very important that he should not undertake this service lightly or with any misapprehension of its condition. So I pointed out in detail the hardships that would be incurred ; he would have to look after the horse, and carry the baggage, and was to receive only his food. Being still resolved to go, his offer was accepted, and he set off with Mr. ‘Turner. At Sungpan a house was taken and Wang left in charge, whilst Mr. Turner went off into the Kansu province to fetch his wife and children. ‘They returned in May, and for two or three months Wang remained helping in the work. After this, however, there ensued a period of drought, which was attributed to the foreigners, it being reported that Mr. Turner was seen to go outside the city gate and wave a brush across the sky, thus sweeping away the gathering clouds. At last on 29th July the threats of vengeance broke out into open violence so terrible that we can hardly bear to tell of it even in a passing word. * ‘a ‘ ert * ' a 7 ° ‘ - sf \ ~ =a \ my ‘ ’ : @ ; nays F eh im) ¢ ‘ ‘ ‘) - o| ’ ? ' ‘ y @ f a eI : ‘ “yi y " 4 ns { j ' \ Hw eG | i ; ‘ i } i) ¥ ¥ Lh \y f. - ‘ 1 : J “. ~- ‘ ‘) i j pe i ae we Py, hoe F : : pps : awa “a ee é . ’ ; : : : 7 ay, . . ' i 6 Ls ; “a ‘ P a” he , i vy 7 y ‘ ie THE NEW CHURCH 291 early days. It was therefore appropriate that the Bishop should choose for the closing services of the old Church the following texts: “ ‘The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad’, and “ Thou shalt see greater things than these ”’. Of the services conducted by Bishop Roots space will not permit us to speak in detail. A congregation of from twelve to fifteen hundred people thronged the new building for the dedication sermon, while as many as two thousand managed to gain admittance, by stand- ing, on another occasion. The building itself was far from complete, for the floor was simply beaten down earth, most of the windows were still unglazed, and the doors had not been placed in position. But what mattered most was the presence of the Lord Himself. The only prayer of the Bishop and of others was that the glory of the latter House might be greater than the glory of the former. I do desire [wrote the Bishop] that it may be a place for holy and reverent worship, for real spiritual prayer and inter- cession, for heartfelt praise and thanksgiving, for the reading of ‘‘ the very pure Word of God, the Holy Scriptures ”’, as well as for the powerful and convincing preaching of the Gospel, with all that that includes. We would that our story ended here, but few joys are unmixed with pain, and we would not suggest that there were no shadows upon this glad occasion also. The presence of two Bishops in their Convocation robes appeared to some a stately innovation in their former humble Mission station, and when the Chinese Church- wardens desired the congregation to stand at the offertory, and still more when some flowers were placed within the chancel rails, in two handsome vases which had been presented to the Bishop, the protests of one or two of the lady workers found vent. 292 BISHOP CASSELS It is almost impossible to exaggerate what this meant to Bishop Cassels, though we would not over-emphasise a passing episode. ‘I’o him the dedication of this pro- Cathedral was the climax of long years of arduous toil, of much hardship and suffering, and in the consumma- tion of many prayers and consecrated effort he was filled with joy and even with elation. ‘That discontented voices should at that moment be heard was an anti- climax which for the moment overpowered him. If we were writing history the incident would be negli- gible, but in a biography it is otherwise. ‘The Bishop was most deeply affected, from a state of exhilaration of spirit he was cast down for a time into the depths, and the following letter written under the stress of deep feeling is, as a study of his character, of more value than a score of letters written under normal conditions. By way of explanation it may be stated that in view of the approaching Jubilee of the China Inland Mission and the publication of the Mission’s Jubilee Story, the Bishop had been approached for a brief history of the Paoning station. I wrote out some notes last week [he says] for the History as I had promised to do; and had hoped to develop them as soon as our special services in connection with the opening of the new Church were over. But now a thunderbolt has DUSE eee So I have now neither heart nor time to go on with the History notes. I cannot write happily or hopefully about a work which—to human appearance—seems likely to end in sad cloud. ... Here are my rough notes if they are any good.t 1 The author has these notes with corresponding notes from other stations in the Mission in typescript all bound in three large volumes. It is in these notes that the Bishop calls attention to the place Christmas Day had in his life. It was on Christmas Day he first set foot in Paoning, on another Christmas Day the first Church was opened, at another Christmas season he had been wrecked in the Yangtze, and at this, another Christmas season, the pro-Cathedral had been dedicated. THE NEW CHURCH 293 Of course, the devil did not like to see from one thousand to fifteen hundred people flocking in to the new Church during the special services, and he has tried hard to upset things and spoil the work that had begun. I spent several hours this morning talking to Miss It was a nice talk and I felt drawn to her. She confessed to being terribly bigoted and said she knew how foolish she was, and yet with no special call from the Lord to any other sphere she prefers to close her school and send away the girls to heathen homes rather than ever enter that Church again, because the service is not just as she likes, or the arrangements just what she has been accustomed to. I cannot allow the Church arrangements to be made by faddists who at once threaten to resign if they do not have everything their way, and I cannot narrow down the Church system beyond the recognised Evangelical lines which I have . been accustomed to all my ministerial life, and promise (as I am asked to do) that never in future will the service be conducted except as some narrow-minded people wish. Two or three days later, when matters had assumed their more reasonable proportions in his mind, he wrote in a somewhat lighter strain about it all. Life [he said] must be a steeplechase with obstacles to be surmounted all the way. It is the very pettiness of some of these obstacles that causes the trouble. ... I can neither stultify the past nor compromise my successors in the future by acceding to the request under threat of resignation, that never again shall God’s sweet gift of flowers be allowed within the Chancel rails or even the vases in which they might be placed. It is always easy to criticise, but the critic is fre- quently unaware of the full measure of difficulties faced by those he criticises. Had those who found fault with the Bishop this time known all, they would probably have felt other than they did. We have already seen Bishop Cassels writing to object to the use of certain words in the revision of the Chinese Prayer Book. Though it belongs to a somewhat later period we cannot do better here than introduce what he subse- quently wrote when the revision of the Prayer Book 294 BISHOP CASSELS reached the section dealing with the Holy Communion. In a letter to Bishop Roots in November 1924, he says: You write about a proposed alteration in the Holy Com- munion Service. One feels one has to move very warily in these days in all matters that bear upon changes in the present Service of Holy Communion. ‘Take, for example, the much- debated question of Reservation. Reservation for immediate, or what is called ‘‘ concurrent ”’, administration to the sick or those unable to attend appears to be ancient, seemly and unobjectionable: but now that we are being plainly told that Reservation is desired, not simply for this purpose, but for the adoration of the elements in the Church, whether by individuals or in public services, we have surely to be on our guard against granting Reservation in any form. And so with regard to the proposed change in the position of the Prayer of Humble Access. Many changes in its position have been suggested. For example, the National Assembly Revision of 1923 (which is usually called “‘ N.A. 84’’) suggests taking the Prayer of Humble Access after the Comfortable Words and before the Sanctus, and that seems to me to be unobjectionable. Others, particularly the compilers of what is called ‘‘ The Grey Book ’’, wish to keep the words where they are. But it is the English Church Union which is making the most drastic and, it seems to me, dangerous alterations in the Service, which wishes to put the Prayer of Humble Access in the position which you indicate. ‘Therefore I am afraid of it without just now going carefully into my reasons. I, too, am getting out a new edition of the Prayer Book, though one feels one is absolutely incompetent to make revision, but I must say I dare not touch the Holy Communion Service, excepting, of course, such uncontroversial matters as the occasional use of the summary of the Law and the omission of the Prayer for the King after the Decalogue. This, I think, is all that I have to say about the particular subject of your letter. The outburst, such as it was, passed, though two disaffected workers subsequently left for other spheres. But within a fortnight of the writing of the letters quoted overleaf the Bishop had the more happy duty of officiating in the pro-Cathedral at the THE NEW CHURCH 295 marriage of his eldest daughter to Mr. P. A. Bruce of ‘Trinity College,-Cambridge, who had, for some three years, been one of the missionary staff. As Mr. Bruce eventually took charge of the Paoning Boys’ Middle School the Bishop and Mrs. Cassels did not lose their daughter from their missionary com- pound, and they also had the joy of looking forward to another of their daughters, Dorothy, joining them ere long to be companion to her mother. Meanwhile the terrible war still raged in Europe, and the Bishop’s two sons joined up, the one from Cambridge, and the other from school. Both in the mercy of God were brought through that terrible ordeal alive, though not without suffering, the younger one having to endure the cruel hardships of a prisoner of war in Germany for many weary months. In common with millions of his countrymen the Bishop, though so far removed from the actual seat of conflict, felt his life overshadowed by the appalling and prolonged frightfulness of such a strife. Yet never did he slacken either his prayers or his efforts in that great spiritual warfare in which he was engaged. THE HILL DIFFICULTY Does the road wind up-hill all the way ? Yes, to the very end. Will the day’s journey take the whole long day ? From morn to night, my friend. CHRISTINA ROSSETTI. From the opening of the new Church at Christmastide, Ig14, up to the Bishop’s next furlough in 1919, there is no outstanding event which dominates his story. This is not that the period was devoid of great experiences, but rather because the tragic and dramatic in life were so overwhelming as to become almost commonplace. As in Europe so in China, though on a smaller scale, tragedy became the normal lot. Battles on land and torpedoed ships at sea so staggered the imagination of man in Europe that it almost ceased to function in mere self-defence. And so it was in China. Brigandage and civil strife became an everyday occurrence, so that the missionary pursued his calling amid the looting and burning of cities and the untold sufferings of his fellow-men. Bishop Cassels on his arrival in China had, as we have seen, been compelled to go down for a time into the valley of humiliation. He was now confronted with the Hill called Difficulty, and he found the road wind up-hill to the end of his life. Happily there was, as Bunyan with his spiritual insight tells us, a spring at the foot of this hill, and of this our pilgrim Bishop drank freely. And he knew also how to drink of the 296 THE HILL DIFFICULTY 297 Rock by the way, ‘“‘ and that Rock was Christ”’. If we may follow Bunyan’s allegory a step further we would say that Bishop Cassels did not, like Christian, leave his Roll in the Arbour, but “‘ read therein to his comfort” and constantly ‘‘ began afresh to take a review of the coat or garment that was given him as he stood by the Cross”’. We must remember that all through these years there was in the background of his mind the appalling war in Europe, and this is constantly referred to in his correspondence. Distance does not diminish pain when those of one’s own blood are suffering ; and loved kinsmen of his were killed, and his own sons’ lives imperilled. Acute distress — came into his home in that distant part of China when a War Office telegram reported that his younger son, who had recently gained “ his wings ’’, was missing, and for a time the mother pined beneath the agonising silence and suspense which followed. It was with a sigh of relief not unmixed with sorrow, however, that a cable from their missing boy in Germany was received, a cable which took twenty days to travel from Shanghai to Paoning, which fact alone reveals the unrest prevail- ing in China. It was a huge comfort to know he was alive, though a prisoner of war and one who suffered heavily. Nor was the Bishop able to forget the war for other reasons. One of his brightest workers, the Rev. J. R. Stewart, son of the beloved martyr of Kucheng, who after seven years of work in West China had joined up as a Chaplain to the forces, was killed at the front. Another promising recruit, Mr. V. H. Donnithorne, had volunteered for the war and thus delayed his going out as one of the much-needed reinforcements. ‘Then the Rev. and Hon. O. St. M. Forester, who had been doing valuable service at the Hostel in Chengtu, was 298 BISHOP CASSELS transferred to Japan for work among the Chinese students there. Nor was this all, for the Rev. A. Bradley fell ill and was invalided home. Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Clarke, too, were seriously and even fatally ill, and last but not least Miss MacLaren, his indis- pensable stenographer, took sick shortly after her furlough and despite all that could be done she died. Bereft and weakened on every hand the Bishop was compelled to leave the Word of God and serve tables, “that is’, he wrote, “the writing table, for I can seldom leave it. Is it right?”’ And then to add further anxiety there came circular letters from the British Consuls urging all men of military age, even those on the mission field, to volun- teer for war service, which appeals for a time seriously disturbed and disconcerted some, his son-in-law included. To follow the story of those years of war in Europe and of civil strife in China is impossible in detail. West China was, in some respects, shut off in part from the main struggle which centred round Peking and the lower Yangtze valley. The names of the great War Lords which made themselves famed in Manchuria, North China, and in the South did not figure much in the West, secluded as Szechwan was behind the Yangtze Gorges. And the cross currents of the conflicts in those parts are so complex that any attempt to relate them would needlessly confuse the reader even if it were possible to recall them. After the overthrow of the Manchu Government, which was an understandable objective, the strife deteriorated into a sordid and bloody squabble for place and power with little rhyme or reason. The story of The Vicar of Bray [he writes] has been con- stantly illustrated by the way in which officials and others have THE HILL DIFFICULTY 299 abandoned their political principles, if they ever had any, to suit their convenience and their tenure of office. For example, when a city has been captured by the revolutionary party the officials have soon found that their policy was to become revolutionaries, and to let their previous views go to the wall. Or again, when a brigand chief has captured a city the Provincial Authorities, instead of sending troops to seize him and have him shot for insurrection and murder, have found that, under the present disturbed condition of things, their best policy was to recognise his position and put him in charge of the city with rewards and honours for his services to the State! .. . In this province, for example, there have been half a dozen nominal Governors in as many months, but none of them have had any power outside the Capital, indeed some of them have had but little power even in Chengtu itself. Again, in a neigh- bouring city there have been five successive magistrates in the space of three months. It is almost, if not quite impossible, as the Bishop suggests, to detect any guiding principle or settled policy behind the ceaseless fighting. Szechwan soon became filled with armed men, either local troops or invading forces from south and north. It also became impossible to distinguish between troops and brigands, or to know which the people feared most. It was estimated that no fewer than one hundred and twenty thousand men armed with modern weapons of precision were infesting the province of Szechwan alone, and these men were by violence and press-gang methods carrying off un- protected and innocent citizens and even boys to be their servants. The burning and looting of cities, of towns and villages, became almost too common an occurrence to report, and the Bishop mentions, as though he were almost ashamed to allude to it, that Mission stores worth £100, destined for workers in his diocese, had been stolen by brigands en route. ‘This loss was, in comparison with the sufferings of the people, so in- 300 BISHOP CASSELS significant that he apologises for mentioning it, and yet how much it meant to many a hard-pressed mother with her children. Even Chengtu, the Capital, was looted, burned, and almost destroyed, and the Hostel for which the Bishop had laboured so assiduously was seriously damaged. ‘Throughout his letters of this period phrases such as “ Things go from bad to worse ”’ became almost a refrain, and yet amid it all great opportunities of service prevailed. Never in my experience of thirty years [he writes in 1916] have missionaries had so much influence with officials, people and even with brigand chiefs, as during the past months. Again and again have they been called in to act as peace- makers and go-betweens. ‘They have secured protection for ousted officials and for defenceless women and children ; they have obtained from brigands more moderate terms for the cities they have captured; they have even procured safe passage for Government troops through districts held by power- ful brigand bands. And the Bishop could have related, though he does not there, that he personally had been called upon more than once to interpose between contending factions, and that all the officials of Paoning had, at one time or another, taken refuge in the Mission premises. Amid a country ravaged by contending armies he continued unceasingly to travel, moving from place to place almost as though with a charmed life. In one of his letters he writes : The Kwangan district is infested with robber bands ; one official was lately captured and cruelly murdered ; the heat was extreme and I suffered from fever, but Isaiah xli. 10 (‘‘ Fear thou not ; for I am with thee’, etc.) was a great comfort, and I was much helped in my work. .. . On another of his journeys to the coast and back he was wrecked again. Concerning this experience he wrote : THE HILL DIFFICULTY 301 I was not at all happy about booking a passage on s.s. Suz Yii, and I should certainly have waited for the Shu Hen if the C.I.M. house (at Ichang) had not been shut up, but as it was there seemed to be no other course if I was to get on at once. A launch of 280 horse-power built for Hunan waters did not seem the most suitable thing for the rapids, and the name Sut Yii was rather too like that of the Suz Hstang [the ship in which he had previously been wrecked] and the German built engines and the experimental trip were too suggestive, not to be remarked on. Still we got as far as the Yeh-t’an [Wild Rapid] without a smash, there the vessel nearly upset and how it righted itself when it was across the force of the stream I do not know. But it finished up by running into a rock and got half full of water. But it did not go down. . . . We came on here by Chinese boat, the best thing (and it was bad enough) that we could get hold of. I thank God for His overruling care and preserving providence. How much time the Bishop spent upon the road during those years of disturbance may be gathered from the following facts. During one year he was away from his home engaged in travelling exactly one hundred and eighty-five days, or a little more than half a year. On a subsequent occasion he reports that during eighteen months he had travelled three thousand six hundred miles. In the days of motors and trains [he wrote] to say nothing of aeroplanes, this would be regarded as nothing. But in view of the fact that the traveller and his baggage are carried on men’s backs, and that the full stage for a day’s journey is thirty miles over miserable paths and lofty mountains, it will be seen that a very large proportion of one’s time is spent in travelling. It is probable that his normal absence from home in this arduous service was seldom less than one hundred days per annum, and to those who know the hardships of the road and what Chinese inns are, the significance of this will be apparent. There is one feature of the correspondence through- out those years, 1914 to 1919, to which reference must 302 BISHOP CASSELS be made, for there is a marked distinction between what he then wrote and what had been written before. For reasons which we do not attempt to explain his letters became much less autobiographical. For instance, in The Bulletin there appeared from the beginning what was at first called the Bishop’s page, and subsequently the Bishop’s letter. From 1904, when The Bulletin was launched, up to 1914 these letters contained a large personal element, being the free communications of his heart to his friends at home, but from 1914 throughout the years of which we now write, this personal note almost entirely disappears. He speaks of the work, refers to the war and to his fellow-workers, but one misses something of the former buoyant note and personal detail, and in addition to these public letters we have read through approximately one hundred other communications written during this period, and generally speaking the same feature prevails. There is no weakening of effort, no slackening of resolution, nothing but a stedfast mood which only became more resolute as difficulties and trials increased. If he could not mount up with wings as an eagle, or run and not be weary, he still continued to walk and not faint. ‘That he felt the burden it is evident, that he was at times over-wrought and suffered from physical depression is clear, but he could say with the Apostle Paul, “We are pressed on every side yet not straitened, perplexed yet not unto despair, pursued yet not forsaken; smitten down yet not de- stroyed ; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.” One goal he steadily kept before him, and that was to strengthen the hands of the Chinese leaders, and place larger responsibilities upon them. THE HILL DIFFICULTY 303 To me it seems clear [he wrote in 1918] that in view of the present world position the call to us is to do all that is possible to strengthen the hands and to promote the holiness of the Chinese leaders, while withdrawing ourselves as much as possible into less prominent posts. It is with this in view, and with the desire to make the best possible use of his particular gifts, that I have recently appointed the Rev. Ku Ho-lin, whose progress I have watched with the deepest interest for some thirty years, as the first Archdeacon in this diocese. ... The appointment has been warmly welcomed. From the west of the diocese one of the senior clerical missionaries writes: “‘ I am very glad that you have taken this step, and I am very glad that the first Archdeacon is Mr. Ku.” And from the east another senior writes, ‘‘ I am very glad to hear of Mr. Ku’s new appointment and feel sure that he will prove himself worthy of it’. In November 1918, when the Bishop wrote to say how greatly they were rejoicing in the news of an armistice in Europe, and that hostilities had ceased, he also refers to some brighter aspects of the situation in Szechwan. Lawlessness, corruption and civil war still prevail in China [he wrote] and from a political point of view the outlook is darker than I have ever known it. . . . But as I look round upon the work in the diocese I see a light shining in the dark- ness, and I discern many causes of deep thanksgiving. I may mention four of these. (1) Wide-open doors are standing before us, in almost every direction, and there is no lack of opportunities for telling out the Gospel message. (2) Special efforts, such as evangelistic campaigns, revival meetings or Bible Schools are being attended by most useful and sometimes remarkable results. (3) The parochial vestries are being much better organised and are increasingly useful. (4) Most of the Chinese Pastors and preachers are becoming increasingly valuable, and are doing an excellent work. And so the Bishop held on, although outwardly there was little to inspire and much to dispirit. With a heart full of love to Christ and to his fellow-men \ 304 BISHOP CASSELS Bishop Cassels continued in “ work done squarely and unwasted days’. The late Archbishop Temple has told us that he had been struck with a review in a French magazine of the Duke of Wellington’s dispatches, in which the © writer said he had not been able to find the word ‘“‘ glory’ once, but that the word which perpetually came up until he was weary of it was the word “duty”. It was in this spirit of “‘ plain devotedness to duty” that the Bishop continued through those years marked by war at home and strife in China. HIS LAST FURLOUGH Oft shall that flesh imperil and outweary Soul that would stay it in the straiter scope, Oft shall the chill day and the even dreary Force on my heart the frenzy of a Hope. Boy Wo. EL NEYERS. AFTER more than five years of strenuous work, years full of peculiar strain by reason of the war in Europe and the civil strife in China, it became clear to the Bishop that for a number of reasons he must again visit the home country, loath as he was to leave the field. When he had left England in 1913 he had expected, in response to the Archbishop’s request, to return for the Lambeth Conference fixed for 1918, but owing to the war this Conference had been postponed until 1920. The time for that gathering was, therefore, now ap- proaching, and what made Bishop Cassels’ presence of importance was the question of the future of the West China Diocese. It had become increasingly evident that it was beyond the power of any one Bishop to visit as frequently as seemed necessary the many stations of so vast a field. As a diocese it was in area about three times the size of England, and in population one of the densest in the world, while in travelling facilities there were few if any worse provided. It is five days’ journey [wrote the Bishop in May 1919] from here (Paoning) to the first station to the West. Again, the journey from Wushan to Mowchow or to Lungan would take B°5 xX 306 BISHOP CASSELS a month’s continuous travel. I have never yet been able to get to Taiping or Chenkow. Mowchow I have not visited for four years, nor Kwangyuan for over two years. . . . And yet there are few men in China who have spent more time in travelling than I have, e.g. in a period of eight years, between two of my furloughs, I spent over seven hundred days (the days of two whole years) on the road, apart from the time spent in other stations. It was no wonder that after thirty-four years in China he should begin to feel that some division of this labour was necessary. And he was further impressed with the need of developing the northern districts of both sides of the diocese. But there were other more personal and yet hardly less urgent reasons. He and Mrs. Cassels were realis- ing that “even missionary parents’’, as he wrote, ““ have duties to their children which before God they may not neglect’. Apart from the claims of his daughters, his two sons were about to be demobilised, and he felt after all that the war had meant to them it was his duty, for a time at least, to be at home to give them counsel and guidance as to their future lives. Our children at home [he says] are writing to know if we will not retire from the work now so as to fulfil our duties towards them. But I have not yet felt called to do this, though the strain has been great of late. Added to all this his own and Mrs. Cassels’ health demanded change. The depression which he had experienced before began again to creep over him, while there were other symptoms which he dared not ignore. Having, therefore, assuredly gathered from these combined circumstances that he ought to visit the home country once more, at the close of May 1919, after having appointed the Rev. C. H. Parsons, the senior clergyman in the diocese, to act in consultation with Archdeacon Ku as his commissary, he left for the MRS. CASSELS IN MID LIFE. This photograph was taken at Keswick about 1g04. To face page 306. bea" Bhes > td - i , 4 4 > 1 & a ae on ee 2 ek | 4 * . *” . ; y at fi ih af ia wie | ' . i’ > - ‘iy ‘ ‘4 "y a? ee 7 ye Aa Ad i . ‘ oer kA ' - t > LZ “hin + 7 7 any he ee nm « nA. Fr eens c f % 4 Sige . ty 7 j t if is 4 hve i aa HIS LAST FURLOUGH 307 coast and travelled home via the Pacific and North America. Little did he or any other realise that this was to be his last visit to the old country. As Plymouth was reached early in September the parents were able to spend the few remaining days of the summer holidays with their children in Gloucester- shire, to the joy and delight of all. ‘Then followed some sixteen months of varied engagements interspersed with short periods of refreshing rest I am just back from the Bible Society’s meetings at Sheffield [he writes to Mr. Aldis], and have to start to-morrow for Exeter where I have to speak six times. This is but one glimpse of many of those days at home, but, of course, the Lambeth Conference was the outstanding engagement, and since no man can write about anything or any person without revealing himself, a few extracts from what the Bishop wrote about Lambeth may be quoted as being in part a mirror of his own heart. The depth of devotion [he wrote] that was evident in the “Quiet Days ” that preceded the Conference and in the daily times of prayer that accompanied it gave one the assurance that the tone of procedure would be high. The spirit that pervaded the assembly when “ The Appeal to all Christian People”’ was passed was remarkable. ‘The Conference seemed moved by a powerful influence. ‘The deep humility, the moist eyes, the trembling voices, the prayer before voting, and the doxology after were most impressive. The testimonies offered by several Bishops to personal healing, or to answered prayer for others, when the subject of Spiritual Healing was being discussed, revealed possibilities which have been embraced by too few among us. Undoubtedly, an outstanding feature of the Conference was the way in which the Archbishop presided. Where else could have been found such patience, endurance, sympathy, and such unrivalled knowledge of the names and dioceses of the two hundred and fifty-two Bishops present. When the discussion seemed hopelessly involved by the number of amendments put 308 BISHOP CASSELS forward, he was able to unravel it. When most Bishops’ patience was tried by a prolix or persistent speaker, he was still long-suffering. What should we have done without him. And the unbounded activity, the gracious and unsparing hospitality of Mrs. Davidson, the “ Mother of the Lambeth Conference ’’, who has had some share in all the five gatherings, was no less striking. But happily this furlough was not all work, and we are indebted to the Bishop’s brother, Mr. Francis Cassels, whose reminiscences of the early days have been quoted in the opening chapters, for some further memories of this and an earlier furlough, which we would not be without. These are best introduced here together. It is not easy to write about the visioning or sensing of conviction, such as William was encased in, as it seems to belong to the transcendental or mystical, to be above time and circumstances, and all symbolism, even that of language, and to have little or no part in any human organisation, however sacred its end may be. Perhaps the best way of putting it is to use a paradox, and say that William’s earnestness and con- victions were impersonal. I think his letters to the Diocesan Bulletin evidence of this, for he used to speak in these of him- self only incidentally, and that almost as if he were referring to some one else, and seldom, unless in connection with the fears, desires and thoughts of others. The only occasion that I ever heard him speak in public was in 1912 at a meeting in Albert Hall; there was a long string of speakers, and his address was short—I have forgotten the subject-matter, if indeed I paid attention to it; but there was the same feature first and foremost in evidence—what might be called a nimbus or aura of earnestness and conviction, some- thing bigger than his personality, the same that surrounded him in boyhood, but developed and brighter than ever. While, on the one hand, I don’t think that William had any self-awareness that he was Divinely gifted with this almost Pauline ardent earnestness, he was, on the other hand, like many great souls, sensitively conscious of what he thought was a peculiar weakness. In his youth, I remember on one occasion, with his invariable humility he referred to this as HIS LAST FURLOUGH 309 moroseness ; and once again, some fifty years later, in the late afternoon of his life, he mentioned this imaginary weakness. When strolling together along the Devonshire by-paths, we had been struck and pleased with the never-failing and hearty “Morning, Sir” (accompanied by a quick twist of the neck that was meant for a nod) with which the folks we met greeted us, and later on in the day he mentioned that he was conscious of a certain bashfulness or reserve, with which he always had to contend in rubbing shoulders with his fellow-men, which he contrasted with the spontaneous and naive salutations he had noticed coming from the Devonshire farmers and labourers. Speaking for myself, and as having little knowledge of his life as a missionary, I would say that I believe that he would have done anything to escape the limelight, when he could have done so; and that if there was anything that could have been put down as a want of expansiveness, unsympathetic reserve or brusqueness, it was only a little backwater at the edge of the great current that was carrying him with it. We were mutually inclined on this occasion to make fraternal confession, so what he said in this regard may never have called the attention of those bound together with him in the great work; but it is mentioned for the sake of any not so intimately connected with him who may have noticed in him an attitude of apparent standoffishness or coldness. . . . At the opening of the “ eighties’ our respective outlook on life and the absorbing interests of each of us more and more limited our companionship. I had visited him several times when he was at St. John’s, Cambridge, and after that we used to meet at our Mother’s house, but I never visited him at South Lambeth where he held his curacy. Within a year or two the barrier of geographical distance arose between us, my affairs taking me to Buenos Aires, the most progressive city in the world, with its hurried keenness to adopt every improvement that modern civilisation could suggest, while an imperative call took him to the land of stagnation. It was thirty years before we met again. We had heard indirectly about each other, but perhaps not half a dozen letters had passed between us. I met him on his arrival from China at Victoria Station in 1912, but only saw him and his good wife at brief times, and with others during their stay in England, although we remember with pleasure that he baptized our youngest boy. I tried to get him once or twice to join me at golf, hoping that he would be “ bitten ” and so make his stay something of a holiday ; but his thoughts were in his work, 310 BISHOP CASSELS and expecting calls to be made upon him in this regard, he gratefully refused my well-intentioned suggestion. But it was in 1920, when he was at home for the last time and spent a few days twice with me in my place in Devonshire, that we mutually found our long-lost brotherhood. And it was, I am sure, a time of relaxation and rest to him ; at least, I remember him saying, when I awoke him early the first morning with a cup of tea, reminiscent of doing so to come for a swim half a century before, “ ‘Thank Heaven, I have no sermon or meeting to-day’. And then, ‘ Have you any old clothes, my boy? Ifso, please bring me the oldest ”’. And so, in a pair of grey flannel trousers, and a well-seasoned golf coat—but I could not find a head-gear to fit him, so he had to retain his ecclesiastical broad-brimmed shovel-hat—we wandered together, hour after hour, over the country-side, now recalling our childhood, our schooldays, the doings of the members of our family, and exchanging views of things dear to both ; now just in silent companionship, and our silence was deepened and solemnised for two minutes as we stood at a gate with the wide Exe Valley before us, and heard the Armistice Day eleven o’clock signals. But it was not a day of idleness for him, for every post brought a budget of letters to be attended to. I gathered, that, as the importance of his work extended, his having more and more sedentary desk work —to which he was not brought up—was more and more irksome to him, for constitutionally he loved physical activity. In the evening by the fireside one of my boys, the only member of my family at home, and I persuaded him to tell us something of the adventurous side of his life, his shipwrecks, his long journeyings, his meeting with the brigands, and so on, which, indeed, he did, but always in his accustomed way, never introducing his own emotions. But I am forgetting that there was one thing he spoke of with very great personal horror, which was the vermin pest that he experienced, sometimes night after night for weeks on end during his first years in China. In the fighting of beasts at Ephesus, after the manner of men, there was at least a good sporting chance of escaping serious damage, and popular applause, such as it was worth, would have rewarded any courage or skill shown ; but what a man like William must have suffered on this account must have been a constant and veritable martyrdom. He also interested us by telling us of the difficulties of adapting Christian truths to the language and psychology of the Chinese. When I referred to the results of his work, there was a difidence amounting to a gentle refusal to answer; and he HIS LAST FURLOUGH 311 avoided giving me the slightest encouragement when I tried to lead him to enlighten me on a point that had often puzzled me, as it must have done other outsiders, or semi-outsiders— practical enough question, viz. how it was that he was associated with two Societies having such distinct views as the China {Inland Mission and the Church Missionary Society. . . . Had he not refrained, as he always did, with so much careful delicacy in talking with me, in anything like a pulpit utterance, he might well have quoted, as reflecting his thoughts, his pre- decessor in the Mission-field—‘ It is God that giveth the increase’; and again, “‘ Who is Paul, and who is Apollos? ”’ For with his whole entity and with every aspect of his entity there was always what was uppermost and foremost in his mind —China’s millions—in relation to which he was as nothing. And if in his forgetfulness of his selfhood he ever had a passing thought as to the expressions of sentiments of those he might leave behind him in his regard, I think he would have | hoped that these should be not the words that so spontaneously rise to our lips, “‘ Well done, good and faithful servant,” but “Neither is he that planteth anything, neither is he that watereth ”’. His last words to me were a cheerful, ““ Old man, I shall never see you again on earth ; there is plenty of room for me in my Paoning churchyard ”’. And those last words to his brother were prophetic. He was leaving England for the last time, and his friends at home were, on earth, to see his face no more. After another five more strenuous years he was to consecrate that God’s Acre at Paoning in a fuller way than any words of his had already dedicated it. But long ere he set sail he was like a hound straining at its leash in his eagerness to get back. ‘The staff on the field was abnormally small in consequence of many having to take furlough now that the release of shipping after the war had made possible what had been denied for several years. And thus through lack of workers the Diocesan Theological College, as well as the Paoning Girls’ School, were closed, and there was not a single medical man in any of the stations. The political conditions, too, were beyond description, 312 BISHOP CASSELS lawlessness was on every hand, and the military like locusts were eating up the country. Some of the homes of the Chinese Pastors had been looted, and one had been taken captive. Had it not been that the General Synod of the Chinese Church was to be held in Hankow in April 1921, he would have returned earlier than he did, but it seemed a useless waste of time and money to take the long journey up country only to have to return to the coast shortly afterwards. I am torn asunder [he writes] as to cutting the General Synod and going back at once, or else remaining longer in England and only going back to the West after the Synod. The latter course he adopted, and in his last public letter before he sailed he wrote: I come to you once again at what is one of the darkest hours that I have had to face, to plead once again and more earnestly than ever before for the continuance, the increase, the reduplica- tion of your earnest intercessions, buoyed up by the assurance that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much ”’. For what is the situation ? It is not only that the horrors of civil war have been again let loose over the diocese and have been raging furiously for many months. It is not only that the terrors of brigandage have vastly increased, and that the news of Christians being carried off and missionaries being in danger is becoming common. Nor is it only that an awful pestilence of cholera has spread far and wide over the Province carrying off thousands and invading the homes of our own people. .. . But the greatest blow of all is that for one reason or other the staff of workers is getting smaller as one worker after another, for reasons which no doubt seem adequate and weighty, is unable to return to the field. The consequence is that hospitals are shut, the Theological College is shut, several schools are shut, and quite a number of stations are without a missionary, while others are being held by a single missionary who ought not to be left alone. HIS LAST FURLOUGH 313 He was rightly jealous for the diocese with its vast and immeasurable needs, and the loss of each worker was to him a painful experience. It is a terrible blow [he wrote to the Rev. W. H. Aldis when his return seemed improbable], not to me only, but to the work on the field. Mr. Aldis had, as Assistant Superintendent, relieved him of many Mission details in connection with the C.I.M. side of the work, and his non-return meant that all the duties of a Superintendent fell again upon the Bishop. Yet there were many encouragements. At the C.I.M. Summer School at Swanwick he had met the Rev. Frank Houghton, B.A., Curate of Christ Church, Preston, and others who were expecting to go out to the diocese as reinforcements, and here it may be mentioned that Mr. Houghton some two or three years later married the Bishop’s daughter Dorothy, who had herself joined the Mission in the autumn of 1918. And there was another worker with whom he had been in correspondence, namely, Dr. M. R. Lawrence, brother of Colonel Lawrence of Arabian fame, who, ere long, joined the C.I.M. and went out to take charge of the Paoning Hospital which had been closed. But burdened as he was with the need of an Assistant Bishop in his vast diocese, what perhaps of all human happenings comforted him most was the practical sympathy and support given him in this matter by His Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury, from whom he received the following letter which was read at his farewell meeting. LAMBETH PALace, S.E.1, 7th February 1921. Dear BisHop CasseLs—On the eve of your return to your wonderful Mission Field, you are endeavouring to arrange for the necessary funds in support of an Assistant Bishop who shall 314 BISHOP CASSELS relieve you of the care of some part of your overwhelming diocese. I have always regarded your Mission Field as one of the most interesting and important which is to be found in any part of the world, and your personal devotion during these many years has been a stimulus and an example to us all. I pray God to aid you in the endeavour you are now making, in circumstances of quite peculiar difficulty, to raise the money required. May God prosper and guide your effort—I am, Yours very truly, RANDALL CANTUAR. And for the development of the work of the diocese, and to assist in providing for the support of an Assistant Bishop, a West China Diocesan Association was formed on the eve of his departure. Concerning this he wrote during his voyage out : I have already been much cheered by the promises of help. . . . And need I urge you to pray that the right man may be given me for this important post. . . . May He Who ascended up on high to give gifts to His Church send to us in His own time a man of His own choice for this work. Of the voyage and the General Synod we must not write. As soon as these were over the Bishop with his wife and daughter Dorothy set forth for the West once more, though the province was in a sad state of lawless- ness. In addition to the civil war and brigandage a new terror had appeared through the uprising of fanatical hordes who called themselves Sheng Ping or Divine soldiers, men who after mysterious incantations over a bowl of water were said to be frenzied and invulnerable for a number of hours. In the Wanhsien district alone six or eight Christians had suffered death at their hands. The journey through the gorges had been taken by the Bishop some twenty or thirty times in Chinese boats and twice before in steamers, or rather he had started by steamer but never arrived. On this occasion, how- ever, he and those who were with him got safely through HIS LAST FURLOUGH 315 but not without excitement and considerable difficulty. The city of Kweifu was reached long after dark, but as Mr. Hannah had made arrangements whereby the city gates were kept open the Bishop was able to hold a Confirmation service towards midnight during the steamer’s brief delay. Wanhsien, Tachu, Chiihsien, Yingshan, and Nanpu were visited en route for Paoning, which city, though it rained nearly all the way, was reached on June 13, when the people surpassed them- selves in the welcome they gave him. Many came out ten miles to meet him, others were waiting at the river- side, and to the accompaniment of a Chinese band and innumerable crackers the little cavalcade reached home to find it decorated with an ornamental arch and canvas- covered approach. It was a welcome more befitting than the Paoning people knew, for this was the last welcome they were to give him. And it was a beautiful and noteworthy fact that the rain which had been incessant by the way now ceased and the sun shone forth for the first time since they landed. The Bishop who noticed these things, and had been inspirited when he first entered the province by a burst of sunshine thirty-five years before was filled with hope as he again faced his Breat responsibilities. A PEN PICTURE The great end of the art is to strike the imagination. . . . Even in portraits, the grace and we may add the likeness, consists more in taking the general air, than in observing the exact similitude of every feature. . . The general idea constitutes real excellence. Sir JosHuA REYNOLDS. VeRY soon after the Bishop’s arrival it was laid upon his heart to gather together the Chinese clergy for a few quiet days. He was oppressed with the vastness of the diocese and with the impossibility of giving it adequate episcopal supervision. ‘There were candi- dates waiting for Confirmation at places, six, eight, ten, and twelve days’ journey away in various and opposite directions. ‘There was also the corresponding difficulty in gathering the missionaries together from their remote stations, and although the same difficulty obtained in a less degree in regard to the Chinese clergy, he sent out invitations to the Chinese pastors and to the more accessible catechists to come to Paoning for a season of quiet waiting upon God. At this time Dr. and Mrs. Howard ‘Taylor who were visiting Szechwan, came and spent ten days with the Bishop in Paoning. Dr. Taylor was, therefore, able to speak on several occasions to the clergy during those quiet days, and Mrs. Howard Taylor, with the eye of the artist, took in details of that busy compound, and with her graphic pen depicted what she saw. ‘That picture is too good to be buried or lost in a now out-of-print copy of The Bulletin, and, as a sketch of 316 A PEN PICTURE 317 Paoning, the Cathedral city of West China, of the Mission compound, and of some of the personnel, the greater part is reproduced here. We have just been spending ten days in Paoning with Bishop and Mrs. Cassels, and I want to share with you some impressions that call for thankfulness and continued prayer. . . Our first sight of Paoning was from the hills, as we came down from the little Sanatorium of Sintientsi, where we are privileged to be spending the summer. It is a beautiful journey of forty-four miles, usually accomplished in one day, but caught in a sudden storm with a deluge of rain we had to spend a night at a wayside inn, for which we were unprepared. ... Paoning was a great surprise. It was so different from anything we had anticipated. Imagine a quiet cathedral town in England, in a sort of Chinese dress, and you have something like the pleasant, semi-countrified surroundings of the Mission buildings. For the Cathedral, hospital, schools and mission houses stand in the less busy part of a suburb out- side the city itself and back from the river. .. . Coming from Sintientsi the approach to Paoning is beautiful —a deep, tree-clad ravine in which the stream is a torrent after rains, dashing over its stony bed. ‘The path drops into steps as one goes down, long flights of stone steps, in some places cut into the rock itself. On either side are fine boulders and walls of rock over which the streams from above fall in silver ribbons among the trees. And there in front, far below, lies the city amid its greenery, rising on a long promontory from the river which encompasses it on three sides. All around it are hills, high hills, some crowned with temples and pagodas, running back into mountainous country on every side. But it is not the place so much as the progress of the work in which you will be interested. We came down for a Retreat, a few Quiet Days for the Chinese clergy of the diocese, most of whom the Bishop had not seen since his return. You will well understand with what interest we looked forward to meeting these pastors, the first fully ordained clergymen of the Anglican Church in Western China, and the first we have personally met in our travels. ‘There is, as might be expected, a stateliness and dignity about the work that centres round the Bishop’s home, though without anything approaching display. Opening out of his study, for example, by a little passage, is a private chapel, a small and simply-appointed sanctuary, but beautiful with its Communion Table and rail, its subdued light 318 BISHOP CASSELS and pews arranged for convenience in kneeling. It was in this place of prayer that the daily meetings were held. It just accommodated the guests, twenty in all, who had been invited for the Retreat, seven of whom were clergy and the rest catechists from the out-stations. Though small, it must have been a moving audience for the Bishop that first morning. After an absence of two years he had just come back into their midst, and his heart went out in the address of welcome in a special way. Most of these men he had baptized in earlier years. All of them he had confirmed and appointed to their work. Seven had received ordination at his hands, and were bearing with him the burden and heat of the day. They were certainly in the truest sense “ Dearly beloved Brethren’”’, as he reminded them, bound to him by many ‘tieswaiiey From the quiet of the little chapel in which most of Saturday was spent, it was no small change to pass to the public services of the Cathedral on the following day. If only you could have come with us among the bright-faced men and women who thronged the entrance to the great building, could have passed into those spacious aisles, looking up as we did to the vast roof, the transepts, the beautiful chancel and the many windows through which streamed the summer light, you would under- stand better than words can tell of the spirit that the place evokes, so thoroughly in keeping with the simple impressive service. From the moment that the Bishop entered, preceded by the Archdeacon and eight other Chinese and foreign clergy- men all robed alike, to the close of the Communion service in which a hundred and twenty participated, all was reverent and worshipful. It was worth coming far to see the large congrega- tion filling the main part of the Cathedral and to hear the responses in which everybody present seemed to join, and the really excellent singing. But what most of all moved my heart was the way in which the service seemed to adapt itself to the needs of the people; to see the Chinese clergy so naturally taking a leading part, and to find among the communicants not only well-dressed educated men and women, but simple country people with toil-worn hands and faces. One dear old soul of over eighty had walked miles to be present, and went to the Communion rail leaning on her long staff with its quaintly carved head-piece, side by side with the young school- teacher in modernised dress and foreign spectacles. And among the men in silken gowns I caught sight of a dear old farmer wearing sandals. A typical modern man of the best sort was the preacher at A PEN PICTURE 319 the afternoon service, who not so long ago was a little lad here in the Cathedral school. He has recently returned from America where he graduated from Yale University, and studied theology at Princeton. He has just been appointed to an important post in the Y.M.C.A. to forward educational schemes through- out the country. ... I do want now, and it is the chief object of this letter, to plead for a renewal of all this living interest on behalf especially of the Chinese clergy of the diocese and their most important work. If time permitted I should like to write of the schools, the hospital, and the Bible Training Institute, of work among the women and of the far-extending out-stations. I should love to tell you, too, of the privilege we had when Mrs. Cassels took us round the old original premises, and told us about the early days when she first came there as a bride ; of the crowds of visitors, the daily preaching from morning to night, the mistrust and opposition their early efforts encountered, and the trial to health and spirits of living in the little, low, damp rooms which were all they could obtain. Even improved as they are now with ceilings and boarded floors, it was hard to believe that for years they had been the Bishop’s home, shared by another family as well, not to speak of the young men (un- married missionaries) who lived across the courtyard and came in for meals. The tiny sitting-room, the only parlour Mrs. Cassels had, was barely twelve feet square, and her bedroom opening out of it was no larger. But their joy in the work was so great that they made little of hardships... . Then there was the Mohammedan family in part of whose house the missionaries were living, and who continued to occupy another part of the same courtyard. We saw the rooms, next the guest hall, and heard from Mrs. Cassels about the little lad, the only son of the family, who used to run in and out with her own children, and attended the Mission school, when they were able to open one. Who would have thought, in those days, of the future God had in store for that Mohammedan boy ? Gradually, very gradually, brought into the light, he has gone on steadily growing in grace and usefulness. Baptized among the first believers, he came to know the Lord in a deeper way through a very serious illness when he was barely twenty so. He was in business then, selling the rich silks and satins for which the province is famous, but step by step he was led to give himself entirely to the Lord’s work, until in the terrible Boxer year he was one of the leaders who kept the church together when the missionaries all had to leave for the coast. Amid the 320 BISHOP CASSELS dangers and sufferings of that time, he had to face as never before what it really meant to serve and follow Jesus Christ... . He is now the Archdeacon of this great diocese to-day, and is exercising a spiritual ministry the value of which cannot be told. Few hours that I have spent in China, or anywhere, indeed, stand out for me as the hour in his home, when he brought a little notebook and with his sweet young daughter beside him told us something of what the Cross of Christ has come to mean in his life and work... . Turning the pages of his note-book he showed me address after address worked out with diagrams on the subject of the Cross. J had been reading that morning with thankfulness The Cross in Christian Experience (W. M. Clow, D.D.) and could not but feel that here was a Chinese view of the same great theme equally tender and inspiring. And among the others, though the Archdeacon is certainly ahead in spiritual things, there are men whom God has greatly used. Asking one of them as to how many of his family are now Christians, we were surprised at his answer. It lies before me now, for he afterwards gave us the facts in writing. ‘“‘ Sixty descendants of my father ’’, he states, after giving details, ‘‘ are now believers in the Lord, two of whom are fully ordained Pastors and two Catechists ”’ Will you not pray and seek more prayer at home for this million-peopled diocese, that all the blessings given in the past may be continued, and crowned by a new and deeper working of the Spirit of God among the churches? ‘The Bishop longs for this; the missionaries long for this; the Chinese pastors long for this—feeling their need and the great- ness of the opportunities. On his way up from the coast a few weeks ago, the Bishop confirmed over two hundred baptized believers, and there are still more than a thousand throughout the diocese waiting for confirmation. ‘Think what it means to shepherd all these souls, and to follow up the openings made into new homes and neighbourhoods. ‘There are besides, as you know, some three thousand six hundred communicants throughout the diocese, but what are they among twenty to thirty millions of people ? And in this vast district, it should be remembered there are no other missionaries save those working under the Bishop’s supervision—C.M.S. and C.I.M. We are responsible for those souls. . . . / PRESSING TOWARD THE GOAL Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal. ST. Pau. We have now reached the last four years of the Bishop’s life, and instead of his path being easier it became more arduous and exacting. As in a race the pace quickens as the goal is approached, so it was now. ‘The contest became more fierce, the adversaries more persistent, and the difficulties more formidable. But the Bishop was undaunted, and the spirit in which he faced life’s perplexities is well illustrated by the following notable words from one of his letters : Let not these difficulties [he wrote] discourage you. .. . The word is not found in the Bible, or if it is, it is relegated to the margin and to a secondary position there. Zech. viii.6. To God’s people difficulties are to be stepping-stones on which they can climb to greater things. Externally, there was in China a growing tide of nationalism, the spread of brigandage, and intensified civil war. On all hands soldiers were being billeted upon the people and the spirit of dissatisfaction was, by political agitators, slowly turned against the foreigner. The prestige of foreign nations was rapidly declining, and the Bishop regarded the firing upon steamers on the Yangtze as a serious index of the Chinese anti- foreign spirit. And the fact that the foreign steamers replied with quick-firing and other guns, he felt, could only create a tense situation between the nations. 321 y 322 BISHOP CASSELS It is undoubtedly true [he wrote] that the lives of foreigners in general, which in the far interior means missionaries in particular, are held in far less esteem than they have been for the last twenty odd years. .. . Further, whereas during this period the Church had, to some extent, been a haven of refuge for the distressed, this has now ceased to be, and the Christians are obliged to face the same perils as their neighbours, in addition to the special trials or persecutions which come upon them as those who have turned their backs on the world. The test is severe, but by the grace of God it will be healthful. The army was ever growing larger and larger, and the people being crushed under the burden of taxation. The military authorities were demanding enormous sums of money on all hands, and insisting on the Commercial Guilds or district leaders collecting the amount under threats of imprisonment or even death. There were other ominous signs, among which was the rising of a certain man named T’ang, who was issuing tracts predicting unprecedented calamities, and thereby terrorising the people. Some of his pre- dictions seemed almost based on Scripture, and referred to earthquakes in divers places, etc. Considerable alarm was created by these forecasts. ‘‘ For ourselves ”’, wrote the Bishop, “ we look for His glorious appearing.” The only possible way to enable the reader to appreciate the atmosphere of lawlessness and peril in which the Bishop and his fellow-workers laboured is by a brief series of extracts from letters giving graphic pictures of varied occasions. Writing on November 22, 1923, he says: Just now the city is in a state of panic owing to an attack by the troops of the first division. Firing has been going on from across the river all day. I do not know how letters will get through. Six days later he wrote again : PRESSING TOWARD THE GOAL 323 Paoning is in rather a bad state just now. All shops are shut and the streets are largely deserted, the majority of people remaining crouched in their houses for fear of the bullets and shells which are being fired into the city. As to shells, | am thankful to say that the enemy seem to have but a small quantity, for those which have exploded in the city have done a good deal of havoc. One embedded itself the other day in the wall of the Cathedral grounds but did not explode. ‘The casualties are comparatively few, but we hear every day of people being killed on the streets. On December 3 he wrote again: Here the bombarding has continued, and one or two nights recently it has been very severe, particularly last night ; and early this morning there was a constant fusillade, and it seems that the First Army crossed the river opposite the West gate and up at Hsia-keo-tsi, ten li up stream. There has been a great scare ever since, and continuous fighting, and we hardly know what has happened. Bullets have been falling freely, particularly round the Fuh-ing-t’ang (Mission compound) and Mr. Bruce’s house. No one dares to go on the street, but I got across to Mr. Bruce’s house and found all well there. Casualties, fatal or otherwise, are reported every day, but we have been wonderfully spared, thank God, and no harm has happened to any of us. After being bombarded for twelve days the city fell, and the invaders proved themselves unpleasant visitors, searching the Mission house for supposed enemy officers, and asserting that the Colonel of the opposing force was being afforded refuge. One of the Bishop’s daughters, Miss Grace Cassels, writing of those days, said : I asked myself what was the chief feature of our ordeal, and wherein did the strain differ from that which many of our friends have passed through in other places? ‘The answer is bound up with the fact that this is the only station in the diocese that boasts five English children. They are all under eight years of age, and as they run in and out of our different houses with pattering feet and merry voices, all who love children will understand how they bring joy with them and leave gladness behind, and are a gift of God to us all. 324 BISHOP CASSELS- The unexpected sound of rifle firing down by the river brought my Chinese lesson to a hurried end, on the morning of November 22nd, for my teacher was eager to be off to find out the cause. I collected my books, and was crossing the courtyard when I met my sister, Mrs. Bruce, white and breathless. She was rushing down to the river to help bring home the children who had gone together for a walk in that cirectioniéesy: The procession of flying figures (consisting of the parents, an aunt, a grandparent, and a string of servants !) hurrying down the lanes to the river did not stop to conjecture how the enemy had arrived ; their one thought was to retrieve the children. . . . As we returned from this expedition the main roads were almost impassable, for the troops were pouring out of every temple, accompanied by mules and horses, loaded with all the paraphernalia of the camp. Shells were dropping on all sides of them. An unexploded shell was found in the Cathedral grounds between the two houses where the children constantly play together. It was suggested that the little ones should go over to the Bishop’s and the doctor’s houses to sleep, as these seemed out of the line of fire. Anxious days followed, some of the children happily not realising the danger. On one occasion three of them just over five years of age were found walking along the top of the wall, to which they had climbed by means of a tree. ‘‘ We got where the bullets could reach us’, said Mary proudly, and they repeated this feat next day in their own garden ! This siege of twelve days was succeeded by another lasting twice as long, until fuel and food became scarce. Naturally the Bishop’s anxieties were not limited to what happened in and around his own home. ‘Tidings were continually reaching him of trouble elsewhere, and he felt an almost fatherly responsibility, especially for the ladies residing in exposed places. Six months before the bombardment of Paoning referred to above, Chiihsien was besieged and attacked, and in January 1924, he wrote to Shanghai telling of bck asndg Ivf OT, ‘gonig Arey, ‘1074q3nep-puvis ys1y sty YIM sjesseD doysig UAHLVAGNVADSD SV dOHSId AHL va One ee ves i) Poy ai : te 7 F ac) ve: : CAT ie ie ao i 3 : ss sy Lh eh fe . ad : | ' ® A ork) tl i * ui earees f Ror i , Saad bd ti! . ° b ° is ' oo 4 Ney a8 r : ea we a ty , rl ht A i Sasa , 7 ty ’ ae Ak ’ yay” Or : . oe ae = ! ; y A a j gv Valk } j a i : : : 5 raging 1 i me ‘ cs | é - Pon ; ' f ( ‘ ’ a] 7 i : ¥ ; ; Ne \ ¥ ft ‘ et A \ yee ; fl i ; \ i , ig ‘ rd i | Lien al . ; ay a 14% i : eu i : Vy ' ‘ pr . F 1 28 ; : * - c@ oF. ' ‘ J : ‘J , “ny Bd j 5 he ie, 2 ba > | ‘ ‘ ead i j ; ' i s t j ‘ 7 : > j i ; ‘ * ha it i ' V ' , . ' i ' ; 7 Lf 4 i } 1 i] i. ‘ : fe =) ‘ 7 4 1 j . ‘ HAS } s ri y 4 4 hae ie a & . rg a | ! - ', 7) . i «6 al ; y a : { ' i 5 ; 44 : : 4. * : PRESSING TOWARD THE GOAL 325 the hurried visit he had paid to that city, to be with the ladies in their time of trial. I was in the Shunking and Yochih district [he writes] when the letters telling what had happened reached Paoning. But my wife sent me a special messenger, and so as soon as I got the news I went at once to Chihsien. .. . The ladies had really a most trying time. They were held and searched, and rings and watches and eye-glasses taken off their persons. Again and again shots were fired in their direc- tion which narrowly missed them. (Next door and in other houses people were killed and wounded.) Bayonets were pointed at them, and their dresses progged, and they were threatened with death unless they produced silver and more silver. The pastor, too, in the other house lost nearly everything, and though a bullet missed him he was badly wounded in the head by a bayonet and a blow from the butt end of a rifle... . Now I am on my way back to Paoning, hoping to be able to get there, but I have to pass through several opposing bands or troops. Despite these conditions it was under the rarest circumstances that the Bishop desisted from visiting the stations of his diocese. The perils of the road were not to him a sufficient deterrent, nor were the dilapi- dated and sometimes almost deserted inns, where food was now difficult to obtain. It was amid conditions such as these that Bishop Cassels welcomed Bishop Howard Mowll, the new Assistant-Bishop, into the province. He had for long felt the strain was beyond his power to bear alone, and had even written referring to the possibility of his being suddenly taken away. As early as 1915 he had urged the Archbishop of Canterbury to divide the diocese, and though the Archbishop had preferred to appoint an Assistant-Bishop and retain the diocese as one, Bishop Cassels welcomed the relief this afforded. Bishop Howard W. K. Mowll, formerly of Cam- 326 BISHOP CASSELS bridge and subsequently Dean of Wycliffe College, Toronto, was consecrated at Westminster Abbey on St. John the Baptist’s Day, June 24, 1922, though he did not enter upon his duties in Szechwan until nearly a year later, when Bishop Cassels personally introduced him to the workers in the various stations in the west of the diocese. Glad as Bishop Cassels was of the relief thus afforded, he not unnaturally felt the slacken- ing of the bond between himself and his fellow-workers in the west. In connection with this he had previously written in a circular letter to the missionaries in the west half of the diocese : The prospect of in any degree breaking my more direct connection with the Western side of the diocese is one that I cannot contemplate without very much sorrow. .. . I well remember my first visit to that region just thirty- five years ago . . . and I have still clearer recollections of my first episcopal visit to the newly opened C.M.S. stations in AUPELGLOGOs!. aoe. The twenty-six years that have passed away since then are full of happy memories and very much loyalty and kindness shown to me. Would that they had been better and more effectually used for the glory of God! But Bishop Mowll had barely entered upon his new responsibilities ere the terrible tragedy of August 14, 1923, took place, when the Rev. F. J. Watt and Rev. R. A. Whiteside were murdered by a band of brigands among the mountains between Mienchuhsien and Mowchow. ‘This was a staggering blow for all, and one that Bishop Cassels felt deeply. I was dumb [he wrote], and opened not my mouth for it was ‘Thy doing. The funeral of Mr. Watt and Mr. Whiteside [wrote the Bishop] was a very impressive and solemn affair, and their loss is very keenly felt. While deeply pained by the loss of these and other missionaries, he was greatly exercised about his Chinese PRESSING TOWARD THE GOAL — 327 fellow-workers. In one way or another some of them were being adversely affected by the difficult days in which they lived, and by the growing anti-foreign spirit. He felt that a great deal was being expected from them, and that their failures were being more criticised than before. He desired to see constantly a higher standard attained, and fuller and deeper spiritual power mani- fest, and he continually asked prayer that they might be preserved amid the political unrest which was affecting the Church. I have recently [he wrote] had to give a great deal of time to going carefully into the cases of all the candidates for Holy Orders, and this matter has had far more attention than ever in the past, and I have been much more careful than ever before. When one of his Chinese clergy did go back he was pained beyond words. This is the first time [he wrote] that one of my clergy [Chinese] has renounced his Orders, and it is a most heart- breaking thing to me that so far I have not been able to save him. And I fear that Holy Orders will now assume a different position in the diocese. The standard he had sought to maintain, not only for foreign workers, but for Chinese ordinands, is revealed by the following quotation from one of his letters referring to the Chinese pastor mentioned above : Bishop Lightfoot, in his addresses to Candidates for Holy Orders, constantly spoke of them taking an irrevocable step, closing the door on the past, and crossing a stream which they could never recross ; e.g. I write one out of many such passages : ‘‘ To-morrow will close for you the door on the past. It will not be with you as with other men. If they make an unfor- tunate choice in their profession, they have power to retrieve it. If they find that they have mistaken their abilities, or that their heart is not in their work, or that they can better them- selves by looking elsewhere, or that they have little success in their business, it is still open to them to repair the false step. 328 BISHOP CASSELS It cannot be so unto you. When you have put your hand to the plough, you may not look back—not even for a moment, not even in imagination. . . . You cannot undo what you have done. . . . The step is irretrievable, is absolute, is final. You devote yourselves to a lifelong work. Failure, vexation, dis- appointment, opposition, all these things you must be prepared to face.” It is a remarkable fact that Bishop Cassels, who placed such great weight on the development of the Chinese ministry, did not attend the great National Christian Conference held in Shanghai in the early summer of 1922, when it may be said that the Chinese Church publicly entered into her rightful heritage, for this was the first occasion when the Chinese had an equal representation with missionaries, and when the chairman was a Chinese pastor. There were several reasons for the Bishop not being present. There was the pressure of work locally, which at that time he felt intensely, and the disturbed conditions which made his presence seem desirable. For the same reasons he did not feel free to attend the Anglican Synod held at Canton in 1924. ‘There was also the question of expense which somewhat burdened him, for at that time the exchange was almost over- whelmingly adverse, and the financial situation was difficult. ‘There was another reason, however. He was a man of peace who desired to avoid any possible strife of tongues, preferring rather to engage in con- structive work. Nor am I anxious [he writes] to get into the Modernist controversy, which, letters from home say, is likely to arise at the time of the General Conference. It seems to me that I can much better occupy my time by sticking to my work. There is so much to be done, and I am asking God to make me a blessing in the work here. It is appropriate that some fuller reference should be made here to his attitude towards controversy PRESSING TOWARD THE GOAL 329 generally, and towards one practical question at least which arose therefrom. ‘Though he personally sought to avoid strife, it was not that he was indifferent to the issues involved, or lacking in strong convictions. I have no taste for controversy [he wrote] and my tendency is to let things go rather than stir up a lot of dust, but when the voice of ‘Truth appeals loudly to my conscience I must not fear the stirring up of dust. On another occasion he wrote: As to the “ Bible Union,” I myself have not joined it, though I do see their Bulletin. I have taken no part in the con- troversy re the B.C.M.S. [The Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society], that is not my line. But I do feel that if the Modernist position is to be accepted the ground is all knocked away from under my feet, and I have nothing to stand upon. Again he writes: Do you ever see The Bulletin of the Bible Union for China? The way in which modern views of the Bible are creeping into China is terrible. ‘To me if our Lord is wrong as to His view of the Old Testament, I cannot be sure that He is not wrong in all His statements as to my redemption and the future life. Personally I have become increasingly conservative in my views as the result of recent study of several books. As one half of his diocese was manned by C.M.S. workers he could not but be deeply concerned in the controversy raging at home within the ranks of that Society on doctrinal questions, and he was in full sympathy with a resolution passed by the C.M.S. workers in West China declaring their belief in the whole Bible. It was, however, a cause of real grief to him that a division should take place in the parent Society at Salisbury Square, and that another organisa- tion, the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society, should be formed. At the same time, though he had abstained from participation in this controversy, he was glad to welcome to the field workers of the B.C.M.S. when 330 BISHOP CASSELS they approached him, as he had welcomed Mr. Hors- burgh and his party many years before. This was made more easy by the approval of Mr. Hoste, General Director of the C.I.M., that a portion of the C.I.M. field within the diocese should be placed at their disposal. With regard to the B.C.M.S. coming into the diocese [he wrote], I must say I am most thankful to think that there is some prospect of them taking up the work in the Kwangan, Yochih and Linshui region, which is now left without any oversight. And in his letter to the Rev. D. H. C. Bartlett, Secretary of the B.C.M.S., he wrote: I need hardly say how gladly I will welcome any further help in the evangelisation of this immense diocese, nor need I add that there is scope for a great many more workers of the ront sorts. But there are one or two things that perhaps I may say at once. (1) So far we have not heard that the C.M.S. expects to retire from any part of the field which it occupies at present in this diocese. . (2) It might be possible to arrange for you to take over one of the more remote districts on the North-East or South-East of this diocese for which our present staff of C.I.M. workers is insufficient. Reserving all his strength for aggressive and con- structive work the Bishop, throughout these closing years of his life, continued as arduously as ever to visit his vast diocese, only once being detained at home by a slight accident, when he broke a rib. Concerning one of these journeys he wrote: I never before did so much preaching as I have done this time, and special strength has been given me for it. In another letter he wrote: On my recent journey I had quite as much roughing as almost at any time before, both as regards the poorness of the PRESSING TOWARD THE GOAL — 331 inns and as regards the difficulty of getting food. The roads also were bad, but the weather was good, and so bad roads did not trouble us so much, except that the hills were terrible. But I slept in yao-tien-tsi (wayside inns) more on this journey than I have done for many years, though I think the sufferers were more my men than myself, for they kindly allowed me to have any room that was available. One of his most trying journeys was in the late autumn of 1924, when he visited Mienchuhsien for the marriage of Bishop Mowll. This alone entailed the best part of three weeks’ hard travelling, though the hardships were to him as nothing if he could rejoice with his friend. As an illustration of the way in which he did rejoice with those who rejoiced we may quote part of his letter of congratulation to Bishop Mowll upon his engagement, as we shall have occasion later on to see how he could suffer with those who suffered, when Bishop and Mrs. Mowll subsequently fell into the hands of the brigands. Writing on September 6 to his Assistant-Bishop, Bishop Cassels said : I have just received yours of the 28th ult., and write at once to give you my most whole-hearted and warmest congratu- lations on your engagement to Miss Martin. It is delightful news. Miss Martin is one whom we all appreciate most fully. She is one of the very best sort. I am sure that you will help each other very much, and that your marriage will be for the good of the work. The C.M.S. debate on the allowance for an unmarried missionary Bishop may now come to an abrupt close ! ! I wish you would allow me the privilege of marrying you, wherever the wedding is to be. It is sad that Paoning is so far, and that we cannot have the privilege of sending Miss Martin off from our home. Of the journey for this joyful event Bishop Cassels subsequently wrote : I thought it right to go over for the wedding, and at the time felt increasingly so, but it has been a long journey, and 332 BISHOP CASSELS the first four days were some of the worst travelling days I have had. ‘There had been continuous small fine rain for a couple of weeks before I started, and this continued, so that the roads were deep in slippery mud even where there were stones. In another letter written the same year he says: My own work during the past quarter has been unusually arduous and anxious. . . . My only desire is that it may be acceptable to Him for Whom it has been done, and that it may bring forth fruit to His glory... . We must all of us, you at home and we on the field, in nothing be terrified by these difficulties, but work and pray together. . . . “ With the help of my God I shall leap over a wall.” Let that be our cry as we face the hindrances before us. HIS LAST JOURNEY How keenly I have realised that strong craving which many feel for the last words, the last looks, of those they love! Such words and looks are a kind of testament. They have a solemn and sacred character which is not merely an effect of our imagination. For that which is on the brink of death already participates to some extent in eternity —AMIEL. Memory loves to linger around the last things of the departed. ‘The last words and last deeds all have upon them something of the reflex glow of that better country to which they have gone. In the Bishop’s life we have now come to a period when most things are for the last time. And his last journey, of which we shall speak in some detail, was one of the most painful and perilous he ever undertook. His last Christmas on earth was a day of mingled joy and sorrow, sorrow because the anti-Christian party in China had chosen that day, above all days, for demonstrations of hate. During the last few months [he wrote early in 1925] there has sprung up an anti-Christian movement which is, I think, entirely new. We hear of it in provinces as far apart as Canton, Chekiang, Hupeh and Hunan, and the fact that in all these provinces there were anti-Christian demonstrations at Christ- mas shows that the movement is definitely organised. In some of these places open-air meetings have been held, Bibles have been publicly destroyed, abusive literature circu- lated, and a trying and provocative attitude assumed towards missionaries and Chinese Christians. But in Paoning conditions were more quiet, and in 333 334 BISHOP CASSELS a letter to Bishop Mowll written on Boxing Day, 1924, he said : We had over sixty communicants at the early celebration yesterday morning, and a good congregation at the morning service, as well as at the service the evening before. To-day Pat’s [Mr. Bruce] schoolboys are giving a meal for one hundred and sixty poor people, and on Saturday the girls are doing something similar for poor children. In January of the New Year, the last year of his life, the West China Missionary Conference was held in Chengtu, and through some misunderstanding the Bishop’s name was put down on the programme to give some devotional addresses. Meantime, however, the Bishop had sent out a circular mentioning a number of the things which he had engaged to do during January, all matters which could not be postponed. He felt he must carry through his own programme and not go to the Conference. Writing, therefore, to Bishop Mowll on Boxing Day, 1924, he said : When you, dear brother, are over there there is far less need for me to take the long and expensive journey. . I have tried to pray daily that I may be ouided and that God’s blessing may rest upon the Conference, and that you may be given special help in your work there. I am old and dried up; you with your freshness and energy will be a great help. He then proceeds to speak about various handbooks which may assist Bishop Mowll, and his remarks throw © an interesting light upon his own practices. With regard to handbooks for Chairmen, I have two, an English one by Sir Reginald Polgrave, late Clerk of the House of Commons; and an American one, well-known as Robert’s Rules of Order. ‘The Rules differ in England and America, but generally speaking the American Rules carry more weight out here in China, and particularly at places like Chengtu ; but even in the C.M.S. Conference we have a good deal gone by HIS LAST JOURNEY 335 Robert’s Rules. ‘Therefore I am only sending you the latter. You will find that it wants some careful attention and study. I shall be glad to have the book in due course, but please keep it for the present. Amid the growing tide of anti-foreign and anti- Christian feeling the Bishop encouraged himself in some of the brighter aspects of the work, especially in the remarkable growth of the Sunday Schools through- out the diocese, and in the work of the evangelistic bands, which especially during the Chinese New Year holidays devoted themselves to the preaching of the Gospel. While he thanked God for the work of the Hospitals, of the ‘Training College, and of the schools, he wrote : Yet everywhere I see the need of greater spiritual power and keener devotion to the Lord, both among ourselves and the Chinese Christians and ...I beg for your continued and increasing prayers that God’s Spirit may be poured out upon us in fuller measure. With February came the fortieth anniversary of his first sailing for China, and he began to receive con- gratulatory messages from many of his friends. Some have written to me [he wrote] most kindly re the fortieth anniversary of my leaving England for China. Yet in other ways it has been a very sad and trying time. The trials to which he refers were connected with the growing spirit of nationalism within the Church, which was taking on an anti-foreign aspect. Last Sunday [he writes], the 15th of the New Year, the Cathedral was crowded—chiefly with women who could not be seated. preached for over an hour, his themes being such as England’s exploitation of India ; socialism ; self-expression. I do not know what he could have been reading, but we all longed for a little Gospel. 336 BISHOP CASSELS It was evident that the situation was serious when one of the most trusted of the Chinese clergy could thus discourse in the Cathedral, yet despite the gathering clouds the Bishop prepared for one of the most arduous journeys he had ever undertaken. In April he sent out a circular letter giving some dates of his expected arrival at various stations in the Eastern portion of the diocese, his purpose being to travel through the rough and hilly country up to the extreme north-east of the province, and thence work his way southward and back home again. ‘Though he knew it not, this was to be his last journey. | After he had been travelling nearly a month he wrote: I have been visiting some out-stations which I have never been able to get to before. I have had a difficult and dangerous journey through a remote part of the diocese. The journey has been made worse by the sad famine conditions which prevail, owing to the failure of the crops last year, and which are specially serious in the region through which I have come. The famine is now being followed by an epidemic of famine fever, the poor victims of which are everywhere to be seen. I have never before, I think, been in such close contact with the dead and dying. The flooded conditions of the mountain streams and rivers, owing to the heavy rains we encountered, added to the difficulty of the journey. For these streams had to be crossed and recrossed scores of times, and there was an almost complete absence of bridges, and only a very occasional ferry boat. So the rivers had to be forded, and they were sometimes very deep ye. There are a few scattered Christians with their little meeting places ten and twenty miles from Pachow. It was a pleasure to meet with these. . . . The postmaster at Tungkiang is an old Mission schoolboy, and kindly took me in for the night. But after that for some days there was no trace of any knowledge of the truth until when, getting near Taiping, a colporteur met me by arrangement. . . At Taiping I found Miss M. E. Fearon and Miss L. Smith fairly well, they are bravely holding this distant and isolated outpost with the help of a catechist. . . . After this, on my way south, I found many evidences of the HIS LAST JOURNEY 337 work of the Rev. A. T. Polhill, to whom this region owes so much ; also to the book-selling tours of Mr. Hayman. The Rev. C. B. Hannah met me half-way down to Suiting and pre- sented sixteen candidates for Confirmation. . . . Leaving there we took boats for Tungsiang, but the rapids were so terrible owing to another heavy storm of rain, and our boat was nearly swallowed up by the yellow waves of the flooded stream which rose above it like the great claws of a great sea monster intent on dragging the boat under, that we seized the first opportunity of getting to land, and continuing our journey by road, praising God for our escape. When this letter was written the Bishop still had to press on to Kaihsien, Wanhsien, and Kweifu, and thence return to Paoning, and in his letter he pleads for the constant supplications of friends for those remote regions through which he had recently passed, and especially that God would raise up more Chinese labourers. We happily also have a number of personal letters written by the Bishop during this, his last journey, from which some quotations must be given. Writing to Bishop Mowll from an inn on the road to Taiping on May 8, he said: I have been reading your addresses at the Chengtu Confer- ence with much thankfulness. ‘They are admirable and must have been of great usefulness. And I felt at once that they ought to be given again at the meeting of the Diocesan Synod at Paoning in the autumn. So with all the authority I have as Bishop of the diocese I take the first opportunity of writing to say that you must give these addresses again. I rejoiced again and again as I read them. The root is there—the great foundation truths, | mean—and the fruit is there—the outcome of practical Christianity. And all is so well applied to the situation in China. I want our own people to hear the addresses. . . . As far as I can make out no missionary has travelled this route before, namely from Tungkiang to Taiping. It is not only a very bad road (made worse and actually impassable for a time by a torrent of rain on ‘Tuesday night and all day Wednes- day) but we have seen dreadful scenes as a result of the terrible Z 338 BISHOP CASSELS famine conditions prevailing, especially around Pachow and Tungkiang. I have been in closer contact with the dead and dying than ever before. My chair men have had to pay 550 cash for one basin of rice and 800 cash for a meal. But often rice could not be got at all, and to-night after trying in all directions the men have at last heard of some Indian corn for supper, which when they have secured they will have to grind down before it can be cooked. Fortunately my wife supplied me with a quantity of bread which has lasted till now. I have only been away eight or nine days so far, but it seems weeks. There are also a few precious notes written to his wife on this journey, from which we are privileged to quote. Writing from an inn thirty miles from Pachow on May 4 he said: Another day has passed, but it is only the sixth away from home, though it seems like several weeks. . . One of my coolies is giving a good deal of trouble, and this evening two of the chair men had to go back to meet him. He complains of a strained leg. I fear he will not stand the rest of the journey. There is a great deal of sickness at Pachow, and in this direction, the result of famine conditions. . . . The Lord has been very gracious in supplying a passable inn here and in bringing the coolie in at last. ...I1 am hoping to find a Post Office at Tungkiang to post this. You are much in my thoughts and prayers. Writing from the Tungkiang Post Office the next day he continued : We found it difficult to find an inn here, and being opposite the Post Office the Postmaster recognised me and came out and invited me to stay here. I was very thankful to have a clean and cool place, and had been praying for this. The Postmaster 1s the youngest son of old Liang Sien-seng of Yinglingshan, Pachow. He was at school at Nanpu and after- wards, I believe, at the Hostel at Chengtu. Writing on May 6 when ten miles from Tungkiang, he said : HIS LAST JOURNEY 339 The expected storm burst last night and the rain came pouring down in torrents. But we started about 6 a.m. the rain being less, and it has taken us till now—1 P.M. nearly— to do thirty hi, partly owing to the difficulty of crossing streams. The river here has risen twenty feet, they say, and it is still rising. I fear that we shall have to remain here the night, as the rain is pouring down just now—indeed it has rained the whole way. ‘his will, I fear, delay my reaching Taiping at the time fixed. . . . But one must cheerfully accept the situation and praise God. I long to know how you are, dearest. Towards the end of this long journey, in an undated letter written at Nanpu late at night, he says: I arrived at dusk this evening, and on my way up gave the letter I wrote you on the boat to the gate-keeper to take at once to the Post Office. . . . After coming up I found your parcel, and all your very kind and loving letters. How good it was of you to send the clean suits, etc. I shall be very glad of one to-morrow, for though I have been most careful with this one and only worn it in the stations, yet it is pretty dirty. ‘Thank you very much. I am indeed glad to be near the end of my journey, and have often wondered whether I shall ever be able to go through this strain again. I felt I must just write these few lines before turning in, to thank you very much for eee the things. But I must get to bed now for I am very tired. P.S.—Sunday morning. 5 a.M. It was a very hot night, but is a beautiful morning now at 5 o’clock. I got up early, partly because I am now accustomed to do so, but also because I wanted to add a few lines to this letter, as the bearer says he has to start back early. Thanks so much for the clothes so carefully done up in your own tidy and beautiful way. When I heard that a messenger had come I wondered whether you could have sent me a clean suit, and there it was ! His fear that he could not again endure such strain was more deeply founded than he knew, for he never really recovered from the fatigue and exhaustion of this journey, which possibly laid him open to the fatal disease to which he finally succumbed. 340 BISHOP CASSELS In the course of this journey, on June 10 the Bishop wrote to the Rev. W. H. Aldis as follows : I have now visited some ten stations and a similar number of out-stations. At the stations I have usually spent two days. During that time there have probably been three meetings or services a day; there have been interviews and consultations with missionaries and Chinese leaders; houses new and old to be examined ; proposed sites to be considered and so on, but above all, the most exhausting Chinese feasts have to be attended. It is, I have no doubt, necessary to attend these functions, but to make them of real profit one needs to be specially full of spiritual freshness and power. It has been a privilege to meet so many of one’s fellow- workers, thirty-one so far. They are wonderfully kind and loyal. Would that I were more worthy of their loyalty. .. . It has been very cheering to see real progress in some directions, and to meet truly converted men and women, though, of course, one longs for much greater progress, and to see far greater working of God’s Holy Spirit. I was much touched at Tachu by the intenseness of the newly confirmed (especially women) who attended the Holy Communion for the first time ; and I can never stop the spontaneous prayer that breaks out from these simple Christians at these times. Now I am on my way back and do not expect to have much to do at Yingshan or Nanpu, having visited these places earlier in the year. But before we close this chapter on his last journey there is one other letter to his wife from which we must quote, though the full date is not given. Writing on ‘Sunday afternoon ’”’ from Tsien-fu-ch’ang he said: You are often in my thoughts and prayers, dear Louie, and I do hope you are getting on well and not overdoing it. Life is still a battle, and will be to the end, and so we must be content to fight on and not to faint. Difficulties there will be to the end, but we must meet them gladly and hopefully and get good out of them. This was ever the spirit in which the Bishop faced life. Difficulties, instead of daunting him, seemed to provoke him to still more dogged determination to win through. They fanned his zeal into a flame. HIS LAST JOURNEY 341 In one of his most striking addresses, entitled “‘ He smote thrice and stayed’, this resolve to conquer, come what may, is well illustrated. The address is based upon the visit of Joash, King of Israel, to the aged prophet Elisha, when the prophet told the king to take bow and arrows and with the arrows smite upon the ground. But the king smote only thrice, and stayed. ‘* And the man of God was wroth with him and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it ; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.” Pressing home this truth the Bishop said: I am filled with fear that the Church is showing indications of staying just now. . . . Do I speak to-night to anyone who is beginning to stay in his efforts for this missionary cause? Are you inclined to hang up your bow and put away your arrows? Are you growing cold in praying? Are you getting slack in giving? Are you getting weary of working ? Oh, I pray you, consider what blessing you are losing, what victory you are missing, what loss you are bringing upon the Church of God if you are holding back and staying. I pray you to-night rise up again, renew your efforts; revive your zeal; go once again to your prayers and say to the Lord, “I have put my hand to the plough, I will not look back. I have begun the race; I will run to the end.” It was in this spirit he himself continued. He would never look back, but ever press towards the goal. STEADY IN THE STORM And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed ; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy ; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon ; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side ; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. EXODUS xvii. 11-12. Lonc before the Bishop was back at Paoning from the journey recorded in the last chapter, the tragedy of May 30, 1925, in Shanghai, had plunged the whole country into an unprecedented ferment. ‘The much to be regretted shooting of Chinese students by the Municipal Police during the riot in Shanghai was as a match to tinder or a spark to powder. For months past the passions of the people had been slowly aroused by an organised propaganda encouraged by Bolshevik agents, and the unfortunate incidents at Shanghai and elsewhere were all that were needed to cause an immense upheaval throughout the whole country. One of the outstanding features felt in Szechwan was the formation in every city of a Society or Associa- tion for Foreign Affairs, which, where the officials were unfriendly, assumed the fictitious title of ‘The Athletic Society. This organisation, composed chiefly of students and schoolboys, issued a vast quantity of literature of a scurrilous and untruthful character, chiefly directed against Great Britain and Japan. It demanded the revision of Treaties, the boycott of 342 STEADY IN THE STORM 343 foreign goods, and warned servants and other employees not to become or to be the slaves of foreigners. Every effort was made to withdraw children from Mission schools, and in some centres Mission premises were actually attacked. At Shunking the students were exceedingly savage. Hundreds paraded the streets with banners, calling upon their fellow-countrymen to rise against the foreigners, while scurrilous placards and hand-bills were circulated everywhere. In one of the out-stations the Mission furniture was destroyed, the Christians dragged before the idols and urged to recant, and when they refused to do so they were most shamefully and cruelly treated, and even threatened with death. Happily at Paoning the students received little encouragement, and the situation was not as acute as elsewhere. The Bishop, however, was largely in the dark as to the real facts, direct news from Shanghai being but limited, and only Chinese sources of informa- tion being available. He was constantly being asked on the streets, “‘ When are you leaving ?”’ What the Chinese information was like may be gathered from the following extract from one of the Bishop’s letters. Writing on July 3, he said: I have just been reading over the printed copy of a circular telegram sent from some thirty schools at Shunking to Peking and all the other chief authorities in China. It says that some hundreds of students were killed in: Shanghai and several thousands wounded in the rioting, and amongst the demands it makes some are as follows: that $280,000 should be paid as compensation for each of those who has been killed ; that the British and Japanese Consuls should be degraded ; that the Mixed Court at Shanghai and the Police Office should be abolished ; that there should be a drastic revision of the treaties and a number of alterations made in favour of China ; that England and Japan should not be allowed to open schools or reading-rooms in China; that all debts to these countries 344 BISHOP CASSELS should be cancelled ; that the police who fired on the crowd should be sentenced to death; that England and Japan should acknowledge their faults and give security for future good behaviour! These are amongst the minimum demands which are made. Meanwhile, the telegram goes on to say that it behoves China to send all its armies to the coast, thoroughly equipped for action; that all goods from England and Japan should be boycotted; that no food should be sold to the members of those nations; and that no one should be allowed to serve them; that all the schools opened by them should be closed, and no one should be allowed to enter the Churches. For the third time in his life the Bishop was brought face to face with a serious national crisis involving heavy responsibility upon him, so far as the missionaries were concerned. Physically he had not recovered from the exhausting effects of his recent journey. His head was weary, and he felt physically unequal to heavy strain. None the less, however, he at once set himself to encourage his fellow-workers and prevent any hasty action on their part. For himself he stayed his heart upon the first half of Isaiah viui., where the Lord bade His servant, in face of a confederacy, to “Take heed and be quiet ; fear not, neither let thine heart be faint ”’. What pained him most, however, was not the anti- foreign spirit of the people, but the suspicion and distrust which manifested themselves among the Christians and even among some of the clergy. One or two of these, including one in whom he had put the utmost confidence, seemed quite prepared to boycott the missionaries. One, if not more, declared that the foreigners were only there on sufferance, and another one asserted that the missionaries were emissaries of foreign Governments sent to prepare the way for trade. We have worsted bad storms in the past [he wrote], and we shall by the grace of God weather this one, believing that it will work out for the good of God’s people. Meanwhile the situation is very trying. STEADY IN THE STORM 345 As had previously happened at a time of crisis, telegrams were sent from Chungking on Consular authority to certain stations urging the workers to leave. ‘The Bishop immediately not only telegraphed to the stations exhorting the workers not to be pre- cipitate, but also communicated with the Consular Authorities direct. He recognised that in the heat of summer long overland journeys might prove fatal; that many would not have sufficient money in hand, and the Chinese at that time would not cash cheques ; that it was wiser to remain among friends than to journey into disturbed areas among strangers. Happily the Consul-General at Chengtu had recently written advising the workers to “ sit tight, and avoid all kinds of friction by the exercise of patience and tact”’. ‘The Bishop felt this was the best procedure, and when he obtained the Consul-General’s permission to use dis- cretion as local circumstances directed, he continued to send daily bulletins and messages to all the stations giving wise and loving counsel and advice. From these letters a few sentences may well be quoted. July 1oth—lIt is pretty ciear that a strict boycott is being organised against Britishers, and it may become very difficult to get provisions ; also that possibly some of our servants, especially those who reside outside, may be induced to leave us. With this in view provisions should be laid in and any other possible steps taken at once to provide against the above contingencies. ... It is one thing for people along the Yangtze valley to leave by steamer; it is quite another thing for missionaries in the far interior to attempt the journey. Above all, let us recall again the power of prayer, and make supplication, as we are bound to do, for the authorities ;_ pray- ing also that the forces of evil may be subdued under God’s mighty Hand, and that the Christian leaders may not be carried away by the present agitation. July 13th——Let us keep our heads clear and our hearts and 346 BISHOP CASSELS minds stayed on the Lord in prayer. I need not repeat what I said in my circular of the roth. July 20th.—I do trust you will all be kept in peace and rest, and sheltered from the great heat. Avoid attracting attention, and keep as quiet as possible. Do nothing to cause irritation. Fuly 24th—I am well aware that the circumstances on this occasion are very different, but I cannot forget that during my time here we have twice been suddenly called off to go to the coast, and in both cases the journey has proved to have been unnecessary. It is very easy at this time to criticise the Chinese, but it is far more important for us to seek to learn what lessons we can from the present upheaval—lessons especially with regard to our attitude to the Chinesé leaders, and with regard to the fact that we are not permanent institutions here. May I seek to stir you all up to very earnest prayer at this time for all who are in authority. All this correspondence and its attendant responsi- bility was a heavy burden, and sorely taxed a man already overstrained. ‘Throughout these trying days and weeks he had scarcely moved from his desk, and when the worst of the storm was over he continued without delay to press home the need of patience in the attitude of all towards the Chinese Christians. The following extracts from a circular dated August 12 will indicate the broad, sane outlook which characterised his counsels in these matters. Since it has become clearer that we could stay on, and since the first burst of the agitation has passed away and we have become more used to the situation, I have had a little leisure to meditate on the lessons which we ought to learn from the present upheaval. Some of them are as follows : (1) First of all, I think we need to learn the lesson of patience. ‘The mist hangs very heavily around us just now, and we must wait till it clears before we can deal with the many problems that have been caused by the recent agitation. (2) I have felt that we need just now to seek to subdue the spirit of an undue criticism of the Chinese, and rather take the present opportunity of examining ourselves as to anything which we may have done to add to the present unrest. STEADY IN THE STORM 347 (3) We must learn to be content to follow in the steps of our Master, Who was “‘ despised and rejected of men”. “If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more they of His household? ”’ He was ‘kind to the un- thankful and the evil’. Let it be ours to “ continue to do good, hoping for nothing again.” (4) Another lesson forced upon us in rather a violent way is that we have been somewhat slow in carrying out what we have always aimed at, namely, the handing over of authority and control in Church and other matters to our Chinese fellow- workers. (5) And lastly, we are forcibly reminded that we are here on sufferance and for a time, and that not only Churches, but schools and mission-houses and all must, in due course, be handed over to the Chinese. .. . These, at any rate, are some of the matters that have been laid upon me; others may have a different light on the situa- tion. If so, perhaps they would let me share it. But further anxiety was to follow, for in the earlier part of August a party of eight missionaries and one child, including Bishop and Mrs. Mowll, were captured by brigands when resting in a holiday resort known as ** Silverdale ”’, and carried off into the mountains. This fresh anxiety was a heavy burden and grief to the Bishop, but he found comfort and relief in the word, ‘David encouraged himself in the Lord his God ”’. “This ’’, he wrote, “ has been a real thing tome.” A few extracts from some of his personal letters to Bishop Mowll during his captivity will best indicate how he was exercised by this painful experience. He who had rejoiced at the time of Bishop Mowll’s wedding now knew how to sorrow with those in captivity as though bound with them. In an undated letter he writes to Bishop Mowll: I do not know when a letter may reach you, nor indeed do I know how to write to you. I can only say that we are incessantly bowed before the Lord in earnest prayer for you all. The word, ‘‘ Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, and they that suffer adversity as being yourselves 348 BISHOP CASSELS also in the body ” is ever before me. And we are trying to put ourselves in your place (as far as we know anything about it) when we pray for you. Oh, what a time of suffering and anxiety it must be to you all, and how we long and long for more and later and better news. . . . It is terrible being so much in the dark. I have proposed to come over to see what I could do to help, but . . . [do not like to be away from the Post and Telegraph Office, as I should be when on the road; lest I should miss the news “‘ Know ye that our brother is set at liberty ”’. I go often and try to see the distant mountains to the south- west of this, and wonder if I can see any of the mountains where you are. No, I won’t say are, but where you were when last we heard over a fortnight ago. Fancy a fortnight ago and no news since. When the glad news did come of their liberation he wrote on September 4: A telegram has come from Mienchow saying “ Party released ”’. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! How we do give thanks. We have prayed morning, noon and night; nay, very much more than that, and we greatly rejoice. . . We are still praying much for you all with our thanksgivings. But though the release of the captives brought unspeakable relief, the Bishop was still bowed down before God on account of the conduct of one of his leading clergy. For him he wrote that he was praying all day long, and so he continued to the end. It had been proposed that the Diocesan Synod should be held in the autumn, and that on St. Luke’s Day, the thirtieth anniversary of the Bishop’s conse- cration, there should be some special celebration of the event, accompanied by a presentation. Both the workers on the field, and the Bishop’s friends at home, had purposed to take action along three lines : (1) To make a personal presentation to the Bishop. (2) To build a pavilion in the Cathedral grounds to act as a Church Parish Hall and contain a memorial tablet. STEADY IN THE STORM 349 (3) To provide funds for the opening up of a new and unevangelised district to be a missionary district under the control of the Chinese Church. The disturbed state of the country made the holding of the Diocesan Synod impossible, but St. Luke’s Day, 1925, was not allowed to pass unnoticed. During the week-end the courtyards of the Bishop’s house were decorated by the Chinese Christians; on Sunday appropriate services were conducted, the preacher being Pastor Yii, in the absence of the Archdeacon ; and on the Monday presentations were made by the Chinese and foreigners. While deeply touched by these tributes of love, the beautiful and Christlike spirit in which he accepted them is manifest by the following priceless words written to his friends at home: It is deeply impressed on me that we must now remind ourselves again that it was not for praise or approval that we came out here. We came to follow in the steps of Him Who was despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Perhaps this is one of the chief lessons we have to learn at a time when an extraordinarily bitter hatred has been stirred up against us. “ If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of His house- hold.” He was “ kind to the unthankful and the evil”. May we continue ‘‘ to do good, hoping for nothing again”’. At the end of my thirty years’ episcopate it is far better to be thus following the Master’s steps than receiving commendation and congratulations from men. These words were actually written before the presentation was made. When he did receive the gift he wrote again as follows: Since writing the above I have received an exceedingly kind and most touching letter, of which I am quite unworthy, signed by the Chairman and Secretaries of the Diocesan Association, offering congratulations on the completion of the thirty years of my Episcopate, and referring to a most kind and generous gift that friends have combined to present to me at this time. 350 BISHOP CASSELS For what has been done let not God be robbed of the glory due to Him and to Him alone. It is true that I have been allowed to be here all these years, but it is my fellow-labourers who have done the work. I am very thankful that you have alluded to my dear wife, who has worked with me all these years. I do not think any- body quite realises what she has done for the women of this place. But “the Day will declare it”’. Little did he or his friends realise that within less than three weeks the Bishop’s Home-call would come. In a letter to Bishop Mowll dated October 30, in which he refers to a presentation from the Kaihsien Church, he concludes in the following words : I must not write at length as I have an attack of fever, which makes me rather good for nothing. In another letter addressed to Mr. Stark under date of October 31, which is the last letter we have seen, and is probably the last from his pen, after referring to many personal details and to a certain anti-Christian document, he concludes with the following words : I am sorry to say that the last day or so she (Mrs. Houghton) has been obliged to wait on me and my wife, as some sort of fever has taken possession of us. This sickness was, to use the imagery of Bunyan, none other than the “ arrow with a point sharpened with love ’’, which was let into the heart of the Bishop and his wife, ““ which by degrees wrought so effectually” that at the time appointed they must be gone. AT THE GATES OF THE CITY Now while they lay here, and waited for the good hour, there was a noise in the town that there was a Post come from the Celestial City, with matter of great importance. . . . So the Post presented . a letter, the contents whereof was, “‘ Hail .. I bring thee tidings that the Master calleth for thee, and expecteth that thou shouldest stand in His presence, in clothes of immortality, within this ten days ”.—JOHN BUNYAN. Tue labourer’s task was done. ‘The pilgrim Bishop— for if ever there were a pilgrim Bishop it was he with his close and long acquaintance with Chinese roads and wayside inns—-had with his wife come to the banks of that river which must needs be crossed to reach the gates of the Celestial City. In God’s good providence the passing of that stream was not to be prolonged. The way down into the valley was short and steep, and the welcome on the Eternal shore not long delayed. To us death is as the setting sun, to those on the other side it is the dawn of the Eternal day. It was on Monday, October 26, that the Bishop first began to feel unwell. On Tuesday afternoon, still feeling indisposed, he played a game of tennis with Mr. Bruce, his son-in-law, hoping thus to shake off his indisposition. On Wednesday, the day which he had for so many years devoted to special prayer for the West China Diocese, he conducted as usual the season of intercession, giving as his address a remarkable discourse on “ numbering ”’. There is something strikingly fitting in the way the 351 352 BISHOP CASSELS Bishop’s life was rounded off. Had he known that his own days were numbered, and that this was the last address he would deliver, he could not have chosen a more appropriate subject, or have ordered his last days better, for in this address he gathered up the Scriptural teaching on the subject of “numbering ”’ and applied it to what God had done during his own lifetime in Western China. Fuller reference to this is reserved for the following chapter. Later in the day he wrote a reply to the Diocesan Association in acknowledgment of their letter of con- gratulation and of their gifts: You use the word congratulations [he said], and if it means as it ought to, to sympathise and to share joy with another, it is for me a welcome word; and I desire to thank you very heartily in rejoicing with me in the Lord’s goodness to us since the formation of the diocese thirty years ago. In your letter you are kind enough to allude to my dear wife, who has been spared to work with me all these years, and who is now completing her forty years of service in this land. In old days she not only lived a most strenuous life, bringing up our children largely without any medical assistance, which is generally regarded as essential, and sharing with me the hard- ships of those times, but both then and now she has never ceased from her work amongst the women, literally scores of whom have been brought into the light through her instru- mentality. I do not hesitate to refer to all these things, for it is meet and right that we should remember all the way that the Lord our God has led us ; but I cannot help adding that at this time I feel more deeply than ever before my own frailties and failures, and how much more might have been done with a better | instrument. May the Lord pardon all my imperfections. No one then dreamed that within ten days he was to enter into the Master’s presence and receive his reward. But later in the same day he suffered a severe rigor when feverish symptoms developed. On Thursday Mrs. Cassels began to manifest the same symptoms, a high temperature being evident, AT THE GATES OF THE CITY 353 while Friday was a trying day for both. None the less, the Bishop continued at his correspondence, the letter to Bishop Mowll already quoted being penned on this day. On Saturday the Bishop still continued to attend to his correspondence although urged to go to bed. Most reluctantly he felt unable to speak at some special meetings held that day in the Training College, nor was he able to fulfil his promise to preach in the Cathedral on Sunday. For this failure he was full of apologies. It had now become evident that his illness was not, as had at first been thought, malaria, and special precautions were taken to prevent infection, for Dr. Lawrence became convinced it was the same fever as had laid low one of the College students. But the Bishop’s mind was still active, and he was constantly talking and thinking of others and giving directions concerning his letters, and it was with great relief he heard that the Archdeacon, for whom he had been daily and almost hourly praying for long months past, was returning to the city. Never had the Bishop uttered one word of reproach at his long absence, and when he heard that Mr. Ku was expected on ‘Thursday he sent the office boy across the river with his card to welcome him back, and to say how sorry he was he could not come in person. On the same evening a messenger was sent to ask Dr. Lechler to come from Mienchuhsien for consulta- tion with Doctors Lawrence and Hillier, who were in attendance, and a telegram to the same effect was despatched to Mienchow. That the situation was critical all realised, but no one dreamed, even as early as Friday morning, that the end was so near. On ‘Friday, however, the Bishop asked after the welfare of 2A 254 BISHOP CASSELS Mr. Tang, the College student who was ill, and was glad to know that he was better, and gratefully received messages of love and affection from his anxious friends. As the day progressed it was evident that the final fight for life had begun. Amid varying hopes and fears the disease ran its rapid course, and early on Saturday morning, November 7, about 5 o’clock, the Bishop passed beyond the veil into the immediate presence of his Lord. For another eight days Mrs. Cassels lingered on, but on Sunday afternoon, the 15th of November, she also entered into life eternal. For nearly forty years these two had laboured and toiled together, sharing life’s joys and sorrows, and now in their death they were not divided. Death had become to them the entrance gate of life immortal. But to the loved ones left behind, and to the larger company who in China and at home had long looked to the Bishop for guidance and counsel, this sudden bereavement came as an almost overwhelming sorrow indeed. ‘To those who in Paoning had been able to follow the rapid progress of the illness from day to day, the blow had fallen with a staggering swiftness, but to those who received the news by cable or telegram the sad tidings were as a bolt from the blue. To all the feeling was of an almost incredible loss. No one had known the West China Diocese without him. He was its Father, and had become identified with it, and it seemed impossible to think of it apart from him. But all such bereavements throw us back upon God Himself, the Source of all life and of all good. God’s gifts are without repentance. What He doeth He doeth for ever. No circle He has formed can ever be broken since it must possess the security of His own nature. God’s work abides whatever changes come. AT THE GATES OF THE CITY 355 And in this assurance the last loving acts were paid to Bishop and Mrs. Cassels by confident and devoted hands. Amid the hushed and reverent devotion of friends the two coffins were placed side by side in the home, the courtyards of which had been beautifully decorated by the Chinese. A Communion Service in English was held on Monday, a memorial service on ‘Tuesday, and the funeral took place on Wednesday morning, when all that was mortal of these two immortal lives was laid to rest side by side in a grave between the West door of the Cathedral and a path leading to the Mission compound, Bishop Mowll, Archdeacon Ku, and the Rev. C. H. Parsons officiating, with a number of Chinese and foreign clergy in attendance. Large crowds of Chinese assembled to pay their last respects, and as the procession passed through the streets a sympathetic silence was felt by all. ‘“ Nothing is here for tears ’’, but rather for rejoic- ing. Our friends have passed beyond the storms and tempests of life to be at home with God. They have left behind a memory which shall not die, and a work for God which cannot be destroyed. They had fought the good fight, they had finished the course, they had kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for them the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give them in that day. And the Bishop would add, could he speak, “‘ And not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing ”’. THE MAN AND THE WORK This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are in the best sense ever present, because immortal.— WILLIAM PENN. Forty years ago, when Bishop Cassels first went to China, it would have been possible to travel throughout the length and breadth of Szechwan and yet find no Christian Church. ‘To-day the situation is very different. A traveller on any of the main roads will now seldom make a day’s stage of thirty miles without passing some market or city in which there is a little Church and a growing Christian community. If we limit our observations to the West China Diocese, by which we mean that actual area in which Bishop Cassels laboured, the following figures will indicate what has been accomplished. ‘These figures are the same as those given by the Bishop in his last address, in which he recognised that numbering, if used for any boastful or vainglorious purpose, was a curse, but if to show forth the glory of God was then right and our bounden duty.! When I came here [wrote the Bishop] nearly forty years ago, — there was no Mission House or Church. Now there are twenty-five central stations and one hundred and twenty out- stations, and some forty or fifty Churches have been built. Then there were no Christians nor even a catechumen of any kind. Now over 10,000 converts have been baptized, and of these 6700 odd have been confirmed ; and the returns show that there are nearly 2500 baptized persons who have not yet been confirmed, as well as over 2000 catechumens, a proportion 1 For the Bishop’s notes of this address, see Appendix. 356 tolograph by Waiica ke ASSELS IN LATER LIFE. o face page THE MAN AND THE WORK 357 of whom will, it is hoped, be baptized before long. And as to Chinese workers, it is hardly necessary to say that there were none of any kind at all in those days. But now twelve tried men have been admitted to Holy Orders, of whom one has passed away and one has been made Archdeacon. ‘There are also in the diocese ninety-eight licensed preachers, not includ- ing colporteurs, Bible-women and others. I must not stay to allude in detail to the Schools for boys and girls, the Hospitals, the Hostel at Chengtu, the ‘Training College (an institution df the greatest value), nor to the Cathedral, which have all come into being since the formation of the diocese. | For what has been done I give most humble and hearty thanks to God on high. And it is the devoted band of my dear fellow-labourers, both missionary and Chinese, that God has used as His instru- ments during these forty years, and particularly during the thirty years since the formation of the diocese. But whilst praising God for what He has done, we need to remind ourselves and you that this is but a drop in the bucket to the work which lies before us. A well-known historian, writing on the decisive battles of the world, has speculated as to the course of history had these battles not been fought or had they been lost instead of won. It may perhaps be legitimate to surmise on the alternative course of events in West China had Bishop Cassels never devoted his life to that service. Would the China Inland Mission ever have had so well-developed a Church of England section ? and if not, would Mr. Horsburgh and his devoted pioneers, who founded the C.M.S. West China Mission, ever have selected that portion of the field ? Many such questions may arise, and only serve to emphasise what God has wrought through His ap- pointed man. Looking back over the course of events one cannot but feel that Bishop Cassels was God’s man for this special task, for to him had been given special gifts and graces for laying the foundations. What has been written will suffice to show that he 358 BISHOP CASSELS possessed the gifts of an organiser in no small measure ; that by temperament, as well as by training, he was a builder, a lover of order, a believer in Government and rightful authority. He was a humble and loving autocrat, one who ever disciplined himself and expected others to accept disci- pline also. While never seeking power or authority, when responsibility had been laid upon him he was prepared to fulfil his duty, not asking of others an obedience he was not prepared to render himself to those above him in the Lord. He was a man with a message, who knew experi- mentally Jesus Christ as the only secure foundation for life and faith. That was the only foundation he sought to lay. He was filled with evangelistic zeal from the beginning to the end of his life, and almost one of the last things he did was to visit the street Chapel for direct evangelistic work. He was a profound believer in prayer, establishing the custom, from his first entry into Szechwan, of special times and seasons for the task of intercession. He schooled himself in this sacred ministry, as one who for twenty years had laboured with him testified. “It was in listening to his prayers one learned how very much at home he was in the Secret Place. ‘There was a holy intimacy in his praying, and the simplicity of a child in his faith. What I owe to the Bishop for those hours of fellowship at the Throne of Grace I can never express.” It was this feature in his life which perhaps more deeply impressed his followers than any other, as has already been indicated. He possessed the eminent qualifications of stead- fastness and tenacity, and was essentially a man of set purpose. For the work of the pioneer, for constructive THE MAN AND THE WORK 359 achievements in the face of opposition, such qualities are essential. Having set his hand to the plough he would not look back. When plans had been made and journeys mapped out he would go through with them no matter what lions stood in the way. What he under- took he would not leave until the task was accomplished, nor would he ever be deflected from what he conceived to be the path of duty. Having received the heavenly vision he suffered all rather than disobey. But though a man of set purpose he ever kept an open mind. He was no bigot, no partisan, ever ready to give due weight to new ideas or fresh methods. He was one of the first to see the high importance of giving the Chinese their rightful place, of seeking that they should increase and the foreigner decrease. Though British to the core the Anglo-Saxon old Adam did not dominate him. He was too generous, too considerate, too far-seeing, to be governed by narrow and parochial views. And perhaps one secret of his open-mindedness was his pre-eminent humility. In all conspicuous moments of his life this was manifest. ‘Though strong, and in some senses dominating, he possessed the spirit of a little child, to which he referred in his first pastoral letter. And no man was more ready, if in the exercise of his authority he thought or others felt he had been severe, to take the humble part. He has been known openly and before his brethren to confess to impatience or harshness under provocation by the Chinese. It was because he had learned to be meek and lowly in heart that he found the Lord’s yoke easy and His burden light. As a man he knew little or no fear, as was evidenced on many occasions when in perils by water, and when confronted by national crises. He was steady in the 360 BISHOP CASSELS day of battle, calm and strong when others were alarmed. Yet he was shy and strangely reserved, though this did not appear when work or duty demanded. He was not a ready mixer with men, but rather preoccupied with the great task. As has been well said of the late Dr. Denney, he had no small change, and showed little interest in small talk or the lighter side of life. He appeared to be, even though he might not be, somewhat bored with the ordinary social trivialities, yet no deed of kindness was too small, and as not a few tributes show, these are the things which many most remember. ‘The mending of a sedan-chair, the carry- ing of a wounded Chinese boy, a tender solicitude for a puppy or a kitten, were marks of the true greatness of this somewhat preoccupied man. With him courtesy was never mere politeness, but the outward grace of a lovely and loving heart. Humour was there, though it was a deep spring which but seldom welled up. It was not every man who got near the Bishop, but really to know him was to love him, for he had a love which inspired love in others, a love which lasted. “It was ’’, as one who knew him intimately has said, “not love awakened so much by personal fascinations or brilliant social gifts, but rather the love born of profound respect for a life of transparent sincerity, of selfless devotion and of unreserved consecration.” But the Bishop would not desire this book to close with its last words on himself, but rather on his work, or preferably God’s work entrusted to him. His own life’s story was only the opening chapter, for the task of evangelising West China is not yet accomplished, though his long day’s work is done. In one of the last letters he ever wrote, only a few days before his death, he said : THE MAN AND THE WORK 361 You allude to the work which has been done, or shall I not rather say begun, out here. He would have us then in conclusion Look at the end of the work, contrast The petty Done, the vast Undone. This is the vision he would commend to those who follow him, both Chinese and foreign, whether in humble or high office. As a wise master-builder, he laid the foundations, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Corner-stone. It is for those who follow to consecrate themselves to the unfinished task, and in the same spirit of love and loyalty to build the super- structure. Thus shall the Church in Szechwan, to which he devoted his long life, be builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. “ see ted ue rece Sea Sea eae AH HY, ied Were Ay Sid sian tints bel sagen ARSE e erase ‘easel ort mal naa Aas oh isa 5 SifeatlAiod a LNW cay a Mae, Be SRE RAT bane aed oh guile setae et wake” % aS «ae Ry Ek fh : SE a Te es Sat ‘Sita hh, hye al! ci wet a im Poo HW 4M M0 yen Preece } wi RS al bow, Bea tin nas Semel a De nih, aie aie Due Oy vata ‘bab aur % "hid oha Fe pai DRG ee ius one Itt Nace ais a aa | AOL iiion i dbus a itt ae fsa “LY hao | ag Men hoes ih ies AHN hu hm pote eee fyi Ae A i . : ee a rah rs ‘ oe ) . 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NL WN ; Vite ae | eee eT ae ae A f ; eer ih y aA V> Nalin x f Petit h j Me h ‘AY BY : } > rey at bi: eas | + ry gn j y j aad 4 Align ai " 4 . -'\ , fay \ : i obi asl of 8 a i i ARS Yb i ‘ f ' eh 7 “sk whl Cre) A tt te it ON Yes eee yo aS iy * wf poe en tT abies 1 , fee y 1h obey et ees Lae yO? ee Cae ara gy art) PACT i i } : , te Vows “ay a vai apy Pita | bap cy eye | ie a | uy Te ¢ aie shy is i era y fl / lave i} he bie : ' 3 | TT ae he Cn grade hs Or sf A TV * yi) we ds +) es x +3) ; Laake 71 Ay. & 4 iy \y Na 'y ‘ 4 a \E aed 4 ' 7} ara iy ayia t we, va ‘ va NAY we ” We ere OM TL es Ch ee See ee é ” detest: Crom ay AMEN A VT. ae ays ath 3 ot “it rade Aer 4 AS AGES TARA a ber oe PG bap A fis ¥ 1 y ot WA ab hae AN?) ee ame, Ae 4 rif ie a's i ‘i atl an ete : ' . Per Ol Ny edd r : by PERE. ie ; ; \ es -“ : ae » { bea es, ue “ | ACA IN” Wea Ot mee ix Leptin rig ey ot) Cin ie i 7 » Pe a EN AR oa ae Meta, | pet Ne | i en Sages meat Pog chats ill oi . Nee rite uf bby. iit hah aes Crier Ne ji fe) ted fh y F nN Bi \ Ve) ae Sy Ea ay is vee. dey reslliai Pn te ef - ‘ 1% ‘J + ~~ A ry ' ; r | } i rw nl ‘ F " s } * , ; Sy mM } : hy t / ’ 7 : é ' ali de Ue, -) i J Hat ' ie im “i nate A) 1 ; 4 AY ! Ay A rif iY Ad i ie tate , ft; r wee y 7 *t J +] ‘2 uh a hk eee Bre Bale hs? Gs | Be AE et i aa i's APPENDICES 1. SOME PERSONAL LETTERS 2. NOTES OF BISHOP CASSELS’ LAST SERMON 363 The secret of success is often enquired for and here it is. It is not in gifts or human learning, or exceptional opportunities or any earthly advantages, but in a heart consumed with the flame of ardent, holy, heavenly love-—BRAMWELL BooTH. I can plod. ‘That is my only genius. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. ‘T'o this I owe everything —WILLIAM Carey. 364 I SOME PERSONAL LETTERS AFTER the book was in type and the greater part indexed the author received from Mr. Cecil Cassels a number of personal letters written by the Bishop, his father, to Mrs. Cassels, his mother, with liberty to use the same. The great majority of these were written in Chinese inns or in his sedan-chair or hurriedly after a long day’s work, and they are in the main quite personal and might even be called “ love letters’. As Mr. Cecil Cassels notes, “ They show how much my father felt his being away from home for such long spells as he felt necessary, and how he and my mother loved and depended on each other ”’. Though it is too late to incorporate these in the body of the book they are too valuable to be entirely withheld from publication, for they reveal a personal aspect of the Bishop’s character only imperfectly disclosed elsewhere. ‘The following portions are all that space permits, and these are given with a minimum of editorial introduction. The first is dated June 1896 and is addressed to Mrs. Cassels. My inn to-day is very fair. It is very filthy and has the usual pigsty, etc., underneath, but it has the very great advantage of a window at the back, with a delightful country view behind which brings in fresh air and light, so I am very thankful... . This morning, after a good time of prayer alone, I had the coolies in, and preached to them with prayer, and now I sit down for a little talk with you, my love. . 365 366 BISHOP CASSELS I seem to have little in my head these days. That week at Paoning was a strain on me, and yet I felt very much helped in taking the various meetings and the ordinations. May the Lord grant an abiding blessing to all that was done ! I do trust dear has got settled down again. His outbreak was most unfortunate in all respects, and one of the most trying things that I have yet had. And yet, I was enabled to rejoice at it for my sake though grieved for the spirit he showed. Dear Louie, we must continue to labour and to pray that the Lord would enable us to unite our brethren and sisters in one holy bond of peace and love. You can do much in this direc- tion by the grace of God. I want you to be looked up to as a ‘““ Mother in Israel” and to be one in whom others can feel they can confide. I want your sympathy to go out to every sad and troubled worker and every one who is in any way under the devil’s power. You remember the verse Mrs. Thwaites of Salisbury sent me: He went in the strength of dependence To tread where the Master trod, To father and knit together the family of God; With a conscience eased from burdens And a heart set free from care, To minister to every one always and everywhere. May this be true of both of us more and more... . I am already looking forward to the messenger you will be sending to me in a couple of days. How nice it will be to hear of you and of the dear children! ‘They and you are much in my mind, and my heart goes out to each one. . . . God bless you all! May you have a happy day to-day. The next letter is addressed from the London Mission, Chungking, under date January 14, 1899. The Bishop was in Chungking on the occasion of the West China Conference referred to on page 208 of this book. In a personal letter to his wife the Bishop wrote : How often I long that you were with me here, and could share with me in all the interests of the time, and try to learn something with me from other friends. One feels such a SOME PERSONAL LETTERS 367 poor, unworthy missionary by the side of many here, and longs to be more fitted for one’s work. I was glad, however, you were not with me on the road, for though there was no disturbance yet the journey was not easy. ‘he inns were worse than those I have had for years. Every night almost we got in an hour after dark, though only doing the usual stage. One night, though we travelled for an hour in the dark, we did not reach the stage, and as the coolie had gone on to get an inn I had no bedding, etc. Another night the inns were all full and we all shook down in an eating house on tables or the floor. At Hochow a crowd followed us to the river side and threw a little mud and shouted. .. . Writing again three days later the Bishop continues : The conference is very hard work, and gives little time for writing though I have many letters to attend to. I have had to take the chair and this has given me much extra work appointing committees, and making various arrangements, etc. I have seen very little yet of Mr. Hudson Taylor, but I think he wants me to wait for him and escort him up. ... The Lord guide! Of course, personally, I long to return as soon asI can. I donot get used to being absent from you, darling ! God bless you. Nine days later the Bishop writes again, still from Chungking. Poor Mr. Parsons has had a narrow escape [see page 209]. He left here on ‘Tuesday forenoon and got 60 li to Yueh-lai- chang. ‘The next day he took a boat as usual up the river. The story is a long one, but the boat was attacked on the river side. ... The coolies and escort escaped, but the people ran at Mr. Parsons with spears and swords. He escaped over the side of the boat into the river, and was able to take hold of a sedan-chair that was upset into the water. From there he got to a gunboat where he was protected, and by which he was brought down here. The Lord providentially provided the gunboat and the chair in the water or he would have been drowned... . Mr. Parsons arrived here this morning still wet. We put him to bed and gave him sweet nitre and he seems alright. . . . I hope that I may be able to get away by Monday, so as to be able to get in before the [Chinese] New Year. I was praying for Mr. Parsons a good deal on Wednesday [the day of the 368 BISHOP CASSELS trouble]. How strange that I should have been hindered from going against my own will. Should I have met the same or a dierent ifate Pcie: I sent you quite a packet of letters by Mr. Parsons and some papers, I am sorry you won’t get them. ‘They would have told you how much my heart is with you and how hard it is to be away. But it must have been of the Lord that I did not go. A party of three starting for Suifu have now decided to delay their departure. But I feel I ought to goon. I havea family to return to and much work awaiting me. We are to have some special prayer to-morrow morning for guidance. It is very hard for me, darling, to be quite reconciled to anything just now, for I am very much wanting to return home [The Bishop’s third son, Harold, was only a little over two months old], but it is never safe to have one’s own way, and it may be that my life has been spared owing to my being willing to wait here when it seemed right to do so. I doubt very much whether I should have jumped into the river as Mr. Parsons ETS id bali Good-night, my own love. How long the days seem and will seem till I can be back home again. . . . God bless you and all our dear little ones. Warmest kisses to them all. In another letter, undated but addressed from a hamlet 30 li from Mienchu, the Bishop writes again to his wife : I need not say that I pray for you, Dearest, constantly in my chair or by the way. It is while travelling that I get my best times of prayer alone. At the stations my time is so limited. ‘‘ He sent me” has been a constant strength and comfort, and I have often alluded to it. . . . As I see various kinds of family life, I, more and more, long that ours should be entirely beautiful for the Lord, and that truest love and joy should be manifested in every word and look. We want to aim at a higher Christian courtesy in our intercourse with one another ; and at a happy, cheerful—may I not say merry ?— manifestation of our love. I also desire, more than ever, to show a kind, thoughtful sympathy for my fellow-workers. I want more than ever to enter into their joys and sorrows. I learn, too, increasingly what a difference it makes to a visitor to get a warm welcome, and from little attentions to his room and so on to be made to feel that he is really welcome. Now, Darling, excuse this scrawl written hastily in in- SOME PERSONAL LETTERS 369 convenient quarters in this inn. God, our Father, ever bless you more and more, and each of our dear little ones. In another undated letter written from Pachow on a Saturday night the Bishop says : I spent much time in prayer to-day in my chair asking for blessing here, and for a revival everywhere, and we realised the Lord’s presence in our little prayer-meeting to-night. Now I keep believing for a good day to-morrow. The Confirmations will not be till Monday, but there will be Holy Communion and other services. We started before light this morning and reached here at dusk, so I am now ready for bed. I have not forgotten you to-day, darling, and have often prayed for you during the day and wish I were going straight home from here or from Peh- miao-ch’ang if it might be. This being so much away from my home is not a small trial that I have to bear gladly for the Lord’s sake. He knows how difficult it is, and when the longings to be at home come over me, as they do so often, I remember the words ‘“‘ My grace is sufficient for thee’, and cling to them. I am not aware that I have ever yet hurried home one day before my work has been finished, but I have often been tempted to do so. Dear little Harold too—what a bonnie little fellow he has grown! But I saw so little of him this time. Is there no chance of your being able to come with me to Mienchow, I wonder. I must confess I do not see how it can be managed, but I wish it could... . I have been very much stirred up to. prayer to-day and last night by reading some of Andrew Murray’s Ministry of Intercession, which Mr. Horsburgh sent me just now from Mienchow. The next letter from which we will quote was written about eight years later, and gives a more personal and intimate insight into the Bishop’s feelings when he received the Archbishop of Canterbury’s request that he should succeed Bishop G. E. Moule at Hangchow, than is revealed in the correspondence which appears on pages 233-237. It is Bishop Cassels’ confidential letter to his wife on this subject, dated Hankow, May 21, 1907. 2B 370 BISHOP CASSELS I have a number of letters to write, and this great heat makes it dificult to do so. But my first letter must be to you, Hovewui, There is a very strong letter from the Archbishop of Canter- bury pretty well commanding me to take up the burdens of the diocese of Mid-China which Bishop Moule is laying down. There are also other letters from the Rev. H. E. Fox, the chief C.M.S. Secretary, and from the Rev. B. Baring Gould, both adding their weight to this matter. It may be as you can imagine, Dearest, a most terrible situation for me... . I never expected such letters as these, and they have come upon me like a thunderbolt. I have had much prayer since the letters came, and have had prayer with Bishop Roots who is most kind and sym- pathetic. . . . I propose to ask the Archbishop to allow me to take time to consider the position. . . . You will, of course, be praying much for me. God help us at this most solemn time. It seems impossible to give up Szechwan with the work just now beginning to develop, and all so dear to us, and so deeply woven in with our hearts, and to face the terrible difficulties of a new work in Mid-China with its new dialect, etc. etc. But yet—but yet, Dearest, there hangs over me the awful fear of the bitterness of refusing a call, and the curse of fearing to go where one is called—if this is a call. I refused to allow my name to stand to be elected as Chair- man of the Centenary Conference in Shanghai, and all through the Conference I felt that I had thrown away a post of influence and neglected an opportunity, and all through the Conference I seemed under a cloud. It was so different at the Anglican Conference. But I must turn to other letters. . . . I long to be back to be able to pray over it with you, Dearest. The heat is terrible, but it is now trying to thunder. Three days later the Bishop wrote his wife again, this time from the s.s. Kooling on the Yangtze between Hankow and Ichang. He had sent her a draft copy of his replies to the Archbishop and others, adding : Instead of repeating what I have written to the Archbishop, to Prebendary Fox, to Mr. Hoste and others, I send on a large packet of letters for you to read and to keep for me; for I am weary of much writing, and my chest aches with stooping. . . . SOME PERSONAL LETTERS 371 I long to get to you, Dearest, to pray and talk it all over with you. On all the great principles you will see what I have written. Hitherto I have hardly dared to face anything else. How earnestly you will be praying, Dearest! . . . God ever bless you and watch over you. ... Love to the dear children. I thought of dear Linda on her birthday. In another letter written the same day he continues : It is Ember-tide when there are special collects ‘‘ for those who are to be called to any office or administration in the Church ”’. I received the Archbishop’s letter on Whit-Tuesday and daily, almost hourly, has the collect gone up from my heart : ‘“God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people by the sending to them the Light of Thy Holy Spirit ; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort.” And the Gospel for that day has spoken to me as I have read the words, ‘‘ When He putteth forth His own sheep He goeth before them and the sheep follow Him’’, Can He be putting us forth ? I write the words through my tears. Can it be? I have been through the Consecration Service this afternoon, but I broke down at the words of the Apostle (Acts xx.), “ And now behold I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem not knowing the things which shall befall me there, save that the Holy Spirit testifying unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, etc. etc.”’ Oh Dearest! Is the Lord calling us to leave all that we love to bear His Cross into a strange land? ‘The Missionary call and renunciation was an easy delight in those days of youthful zeal. But this—this would indeed be a martyrdom— a laying ourselves down on the altar to die. And the Archbishop calls me to it because zt is difficult. And ah, dearest Love, how difficult it would be for you. I scarcely dare to think of it. To leave your friends and your converts, your classes, your home and all that you love. Can it be? How little we ever dreamt of having our nest stirred up in this way, if it is to be. But which ever way it is to be I pray that God will give us the strength and joy of unity and that we may see eye to eye, whether it is “‘ yes”’ or “‘no’”’. Isaiah li. 8. [The voice of Thy watchman! They lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Jehovah 2B2 372 BISHOP CASSELS returns to Zion.| I shall pray specially for this. Isaiah li. 8. Your advice and counsel have been very much to me of recent years, though I have not always followed it. You have lived more in touch with the Lord than I have ; and so have known His will better. I pray that God will guide you aright at this time. Could we, I wonder, get away quietly for a few days to pray over the matter. But it must not (of this I am clear) be decided hastily—the issues are far too solemn and im- portant. So we must wait long if need be for certain light. The last letter on this subject was dated June 6, 1907, and was written in one of the small Chinese life- boats which are used on the perilous waters of the Upper Yangtze. With this we must close these sacred glimpses into the Bishop’s private and personal correspondence. Rep Boat, NEARING NEw RapIp, Thursday, Fune 6, 1907. My pearest LourE—It is not easy to write on this boat as I have to hold the paper on my knees—and hoping to reach you soon after my letters there is less need to write at length. I have telegraphed to Wanhsien several times, so you will know my movements before this... . Weare now not far from the Sin-t’an [New Rapid] and hope to reach Wanhsien to-morrow ...and Paoning June 23 [Sunday]. Ah, will not that be a joy! ... I do not want to wander again without you for a long long time. Of course the matter of the Archbishop’s letter is all day in my prayers and Cecil Polhill helps by prayer. You will soon now get my letters. The boat rocks so that I cannot write, and here comes Mr. Parsons along. I much look forward to getting later letters at Wanhsien. Fondest love, dearest Louie. God’s richest blessing rest on you! Love to the dear children.—Ever your own affectionate husband, WILLIE. II NOTES OF BISHOP CASSELS’ LAST SERMON NUMBERS III. 16; XXVI. 57 TO END. O. & N. Test. abound in instances of God’s not only allow- ing but commanding numbering of people and things. A whole book of the Bible on this subject. roo times. O. Test. Ch. of Israel numbered 3 times, and afterwards in Josh., Judges, Sam., Kings, Chron., constantly read of numbering. Entirely i in accordance with God’s purposes. Ezra again most careful and exact in numbering. N. Test. Gospel instances, Loaves and Fishes. Mere vy, se timesy wid Tye Ay Vis eZee AT Ya oY (1) For what purposes ? Why allowed or ordered ? 1. To show forth God’s power and glory, e.g. miracle of loaves. 2. Lo show how he can use weak things, or things which are not, e.g. Gideon’s 300 (Judges vil.). 3. Lo cheer Preachers (Church), show labour not in vain, Chewvcts i134 1, etc; 4. To stimulate to emulation (holy), not a wrong motive if in aright spirit ; ‘tribes ” and 2 Cor. ix.2. “‘ Your zeal hath provoked very many.” 5. For estimating the workers and means required for God’s service. O. ‘Test. Levites, numbers and ransom. Numbers 11. numbered to do ie work of the con- gregation. Numbers iv. 30, 35, 41. 6. Preparation for conflict against the re cf. Joshua-Saul- David, etc. 7. Warning, number who fell in desert, cf. Numbers 26. For all such purposes it is right to number. Add up numbers and consider resources. (2) But on the other hand there is evidently a great danger. Terrible story of David numbering Israel is enough to show this. ofS 374 BISHOP CASSELS Wherein lay his sin, for that it was a grievous sin the whole story shows. Led of Satan not of God. Whenever David failed to seek for God’s leading he landed himself in a terrible retribution. Wilful—against advice and exhortation. Motives. 1. Pride-vain-glory-boasting, cf. 2 Sam. xxiv. il. Ambition, desire for fresh conquest, numbering in preparation for war—if of God, right; if not, wrong. iil. Covetousness, intention to impose fresh taxes on people (lust of flesh-eye and pride of life). ‘These things written for our learning. Led to speak on this because during last few days received a number of very kind letters of congratulation and one telegram from London referring to last 30 years. If there is any boastful or vainglorious spirit in adding up numbers then absolutely wrong and brings a curse. If for God’s glory to show what He has done, to cheer us, to stimulate us, and to warn us, then right and our duty. We are to remember all the way that He has led us. 1. fellow workers. There have been as many as 135. 2. Chinese Staff. 12 ordained. 98 licensed. 31 Bible Women. ‘Total 141. . Stations, 25 ; outstations, 120. . Churches built, 40. Baptized, 10,000 Communicants .. 5164 Baptized, not Communicants 2426 Catechumen Ha2r28 0 9718 from former statistics, now over 10,000 adherents. Disciplined sad, a warning—s38. Heb. ii. and iii. LN Di: Aldis, Miss, 281 Aldis, Rev. W. H., 209, 210, 216, 313, 340 Arnott, Miss, 197 Barclay, Misses P. and F., 1209, 145 e15057 02,200 Bardsley, Rev. C. C. B., 284 Baring-Gould, Rev. B., 233, 235 ; quoted, 178, 179 | Barnes-Lawrence, Rev. A. E., 184, 281, 285 Bartlett, Rev. D. H. C., 330 Beauchamp, Rev. Sir Montagu, 41, 42, 52, 62, 63, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 82, 105, 135, 146, 148, 157, 158, 159, 160, 162 ; quoted, 114-15 Benson, Archbishop, 178, 182, 183, 184; quoted, 179, 180 Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society, 329-30 Biggs, Miss, 254 Bishop, Mrs. Bird, 186; quoted, 186-8 Boxer Rising, 207, 212 et seq.; reaction following, 220-22 Bradley, Rev. A., 298 Broman, Miss, 140 Bruce, Mr. P. A., 295 Bulletin of the Bible Union for China, The, 329 Bulletin of the West China Diocese, The, 228, 302, 316 Callum, Rev. D. A. and Mrs., 147 Cambridge Seven, 25, 36, 40-44, 72. OL tos Canterbury, Archbishop of, 178, 233-6 ; quoted, 233, 313-14 Carey, William, quoted, 173 | Cassels, Dorothy Hope (Mrs. Frank Houghton), 186, 195, 258, 295, 313, 314 Cassels, Ethelinda, 219, 259 Cassels, Frances Grace, 186, 222, 258; quoted, 268-71, 323-4 Cassels, Francis (brother), quoted, II-I2, 20-23, 29, 30-31, 308- 311 Cassels, Francis (son), 165, 168, 169, 17 Cassels, Harold, 208, 222, 250, 295, 297 Cassels, Herbert, 26 ; Notes by, 35 Cassels, Jessie Ida (Mrs. P. A. Bruce), 132-3, 151, 153, 166, 175, 195, 211, 281, 294; quoted, 256-7, 265-7 Cassels, John (father), 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 20 Cassels, Mrs. John (née Ethelinda COX) 5 355057 dOmm ly ile, 14, 30, 37, 44-5, 212 Cassels, William Cecil, 175, 295 Cassels, William Wharton: parent~- age, 5-9; born in Oporto, 9; early childhood in Portugal, 10-14; mother’s influence, 12; temoval to England, 15; death “of. father,'"20; at school in Stroud, 20-21 ; at school in Blackheath, 21-2 ; at Repton, 23-5; keenness in athletics, 21-2, 24-5, 26; St. John’s, Cambridge, 25-6 ; ordination, 29; curacy in South Lambeth, 29-35 ; call to foreign field, 35, 36; offers to Church Missionary Society, 36; accepted by China Inland Mission, 37 ; farewell address at Exeter 375 376 BISHOP Cassels, William Wharton—cont. Hall, 42-4; departure for China, 49; Shanghai reached, 50; Peking, 52-9; life in Shansi, 60 et seq.; Taiyuanfu, 61-2; views on “ Marriage on the Mission Field’’, 73-4 ; departure for Szechwan, 79 ; engagement to Miss Legg, 96 ; commencement of work at Paoning, 90-104; marriage, 107; the home at Paoning, 112-14, 188, 268-71, 319; the man of prayer, 118-19; esti- mate of character, 128, 136- 139, 243, 2455. 265-7, 270, 302, 357-61 ; birth of eldest child, 132; appointed As- sistant Superintendent of Mission district, 138, 150; itinerations, 139-41, 222, 231, 288, 301, 325, 336 ef seq.; appointed Ciinniae to Bishop Moule, 164; birth of eldest son, 165 ; ; opening of first chapel in Paoning, 166-7 ; death of eldest son, 168; arrival in England, June 1894, 173; visit to Oporto, 175; birth of second son, 175; consecrated Bishop of Western China, 182; re- turns to China, October 1895, 182 ; birth of twin daughters, 186 ; birth of third son, 208 ; death of his mother, 212-13 ; the Boxer Rising, 207, 212 et seq.; birth of youngest child, 219; founding of Diocesan Training Institute, 225; leaves for furlough, 1904, 226-7 ; visits Portugal, 228 ; separation from chil- dren, 229, 230; return to Paoning, 230; policy in work, 231 ; invitation to be- come Bishop of Mid-China, 233-7; relations with chil- dren, 255 et seg.; the daily time-table, 258-60; revolu- tion in China, 275 et seg. ; in England, 281; return to China, 1913, 282 ; invitation to join home staff of Church Missionary Society, 284-6; CASSELS Cassels, William Wharton—cont. building and consecration of pro-Cathedral, 283, 289-93 ; welcome back to Paoning, 1920, 315 ; last travels, 333 eé seq.; illness, 351; death, 354 Cassels, Mrs. William Wharton (née Mary Louisa Legg), 39, 93-7, IOI, 107, 126, 132-3, 222, 268, 270 ; quoted, 111-14, 122, 152-3, 154-5, 262, 264 Chang, Pastor (former Buddhist Bishop), 68, 69, 71 hina: Anti-foreign outbursts, 89, 152- 153; 156-9, 1760-75 181, 196, 207, 6208, 212 "et -sequyeaaae 270 \€b. SEQ,,-, 300), 304 eae 342 ef seq. Boxer Rising, 207, 212 et seq. Civil strife, 296 et seqg., 312, S20er Seu: Revolution of 1911, 275 et seq. War with Japan, 175, 176 China Inland Mission : and Church of England, 81, 99, 136, 139-42, 197-205 and Church Missionary Society, 145, 199-205 _ Removal to Newington Green, 176 Princtples and Practice, 179 China’s Millions, 41 Ch’ii, Pastor, 68- -9, 73, 74 Church Missionary Review, 282 Church Missionary Society : Work commenced in Szechwan, 143-8 and China Inland Mission, 145, 148, 199-205 and Bible Churchmen’s Mis- sionary Society, 329-30 Conferences, 238-40 Anglican Conference, 238, 243, 280 Keswick, 175, 180, 184 Lambeth Conference, 239, 240, 261, 305, 307-8 Mildmay Conference, 174 National Christian Conference, Shanghai, 1922, 328 Pan-Anglican Congress, 261 Shanghai Missionary Confer- ence, 149-50 239; INDEX Conferences—continued United Conference of Bishops, 1894, 194 West China Missionary Con- ference, 208, 334 Corfe, Bishop C. J., 195 Cox, George, 161 Culverwell, Misses E. and F., IO7M SLOW DI 2, . 120,130) 135 Donnithorne, Rev. V. H., 297 Do not Say, 144 Easton, Rev. G. F., 87 Edkin, Rev. Joseph, quoted, 58-9 Edwards, Canon Allen T., 29, 30, ae 3 Ryans, Revy.; Ai E.; ars2, 210: quoted, 119 Fearon, Miss M. E., 336 Forester, Rev. O. St. M., 297 Fox, Prebendary H. E., 182, 233, 235 Gill, Rev. W. H., 135 Gilmour, Rev. James, 59 Grainger, Mr., 140, 152 Graves, Bishop F. R., 195 Guardian, The, quoted, 202, 203-5 “J Hanbury, Miss B., 118, 125, 129, 135, 151, 154, 160-61, 162 Hannah, Rev. C. B., 260, 337 Hardman, Mr. M., 152 Hayman, Mr., 337 Hayward, Mr. J. 160, 162, 168 Henrietta Bird Memorial Hos- pital, 186, 188 Hickman, Rev. J. A., 147 Hill, Rev. David, 70 Hoare, Rev. J. C. (Bishop), 198- 201 Hodges, Rev. Mr., 168 Hoge, VireG, KH. . or.95 Horsburgh, Rev. J. Heywood, 125, 127, 130, 142, 143-6, 159, 205, 330; quoted, 144, 8 EL int 20, 9235} T4 Hoste, Mr. D: E., 37, 41, 42452; 53, 55, 61, 63, 72, 73, 281, 339 Houghton, Rev. Frank, 313 377 Hsi, Pastor, 64, 72, 74 Hu, Mr., 259 Hughesdon, Rev. E., 135, 162 In Quest of God, 65 Inwood, Rev. and Mrs. Charles, 208 Jackson, Rev. O. M., 145, 147 Japan: War with China, 175, 176 Jennings, Rev. W., 224 Jones, Miss S. E., 131, 134 Kennaway, Sir J. E., 182 Keswick, 175, 180, 184 Kitley, Rev. W., 216 Knipe, Rev. W. L. L. and Mrs., 147 Kolkenbeck, Miss, 152, 195 Ku Ho-lin, Archdeacon, 154-5, 232-3, 303, 306, 353, 354 Larking, Captain Albert, quoted, ce Lawrence, Dr. M. R., 313 Legg, Miss Mary Louisa. See Mrs. William Wharton Cassels Lloyd, Miss, 195 Lloyd, Rev. L., 182 MacLaren, Miss, 259, 298 Martin, Miss D., 331 Martin, Miss N., 129, 135 Mertens, Miss, 147 Missionary work : openings following Boxer Ris- ing, 220-21 opposition to, 88-9, 90, 91-2, IOI-2, 122-3, 152-3, 156, 176-7, 181, 196, 207, 208, 225, 230, 300, 314, 323, 333, B43ue cee: Moody’s Missions, 40, 42 Moule, Archdeacon A. E., 51, 99 Moule, Bishop G. E., 102, 106, 107, 139, 141, 164, 176, 177, 183, 195, 198, 233, 284 Moule, Archdeacon W. S., 244 Mowll, Bishop Howard, 325-6, RPS OER) ERR VENURL UE I Veltce 354. Muir, Miss, 91, 95 Murray, Miss Mariamne, 95 378 BISHOP Old Reptonian Prayer Union, 25 Oporto, 6, 8-9, 10-14, 20, 175, 228 Otley, Mr., 196 Paoning : description of city, 84-6, 187, 317 commencement of Christian work, 90 et seq. daily plan of work, 120-21, 258- 260 Cassels’ home, 112-14, 188, 268-71, 319 building and consecration of pro-Cathedral, 283, 289-93 during civil strife, 322-4 Parry, Dr. H. L., 140, 166 Parsons, Rev. C. H., 146, 150, 152, 157, 158, 209, 306 Phelps, Rev. Albert, 88, 89, 91, 92, 102, 105, 124, 143, I51, 152, 160, 162 Phillips, Rev. A. A., 147, 216 Pingyangfu, 63-4, 65, 70, 72 Polhill-Turner (or Polhill), C. and A., 41, 42, 52, 82, 88, 91, 99, 100, IOI, 102, 105, 116, 143, ¥51,°155; 156, 160,462,210, 337 Pruen, Dr. W. Li) i197 Record, The, quoted, 197-202 Repton, 23-5 Rogers, Mr. George, 283 Roots, Bishop L. H., 234, 242, 244, 289; quoted, 289-90 Scott, Bishop C. P., 195, 243 Simmonds, Mr., 147 Simpson, Rev. J. G., 182 Sintientsi, 131-2 Smith, Miss L., 336 Smith, Mr. Stanley P., 25, 35, 37, 41, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 61, 62, 63; quoted, 25, 36 Song, Pastor, 72 Spanish and Portuguese Church Aid Society, 33 THE CASSELS Squibbs, Rev. Dr., 254 Stevenson, Rev. J. W., 73, 74, 116, 138, 168 Stewart, Rev. J. R., 297 Stock, Dr. Eugene, 285 ; quoted, 41-2, 143, 180, 182, 203-5 Studd, Mr, C. Taurigaree Student Volunteer Movement, 44 Sykes, Rev. H., quoted, 24-5 Szechwan, description of, 83-4 itinerating in, I14-15, 122-3, 129, 130, 133-4 Taiyuanfu, 61-2, 72 Talbot, Bishop E., 211, 242, 279 ° Taning, 69-71 Taylor, Dr. Howard, 316 Taylor, Mrs. Howard, quoted, 317-20 Taylor, Rev. J. Hudson, 37, 41, 42,.50, 72, 73, 81, 82,005, 95, 138, 139, 149, 150, 152, 160, 168, 184, 185, 208, 209 ; quoted, 80, 81, 119; death, 229 Taylor, Mrs. Hudson, 168, 208 Taylor, Rev, W. C., 140; 216; » 254.08 Ting Li-mei, Rev., 288 Victoria, Bishop of. See under Rev. J. C. Hoare Wang T'’song-ih, 154, 155-7 Watt, Rev. F. J., 32 Wet D peaioa! Prebendary, 178, 183 West China Tract Society, 208 Whiteside, Rev. R. A., 326 Willett, Rev. T’. G., 152 Williams, Miss F. M., 118, 119, 130, 135, 154, 162, 196 Williams, Rev. E. O., 131, 133, 198, 210 Williams, Sir George, 42 Wrigley, Mr., 196 Yui Man-tze, 208, 209 END YUNNAN 7 MAP SKETCH MAP OF CHINA showing stations O SHOWING POSITION OF vi .C_LM..C.M.S., and B.C.M.S., THE PROVINCE OF SZECHWAN inthe West China Diocese CIM. Stations underlined thus 9? ” 9? English Miles o 50 te eee eee weeeee 7, akha Mal isekes IP Welingo TONGKING Arm Or ByiCns MLOCHUETO Atay (PL 'e® 2 oO Stanford's Geog! Estab® London. nA tg I ig ln oe ee lg a far ae Teh eh . T ma ct Hy od i 1s ry , ae eat 3 é \ in} wit ie : : i a ] ee + Y A Wa Pv | ; ‘ af OPE ‘ * qe it Me p ae Ahatli ; i A 1 } FAN 7 . RT vay ¥ ¢ / a ‘ d " Pr anal fe Sy eer eae a p ESA at ip " sf i he vis Pie eh y Pi pe ti ae ; A ee ah: 7?) 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