"1— ^?-'^ P5» 24;Z X BV 3415 . B745 1915 Broomhall , Marshall, 1886- 1937. The jubil ee story of the China In land Mission 1 THE JUBILEE STORY OF THE CHINA INLAND MISSION Wheue Christ m'as not named. "The China Inland Mission Avas formed under a deep sense of China's pressinj; need, and with an earnest desire, constrained by the love of Christ and the hope of His coming, to obey His command to preach the Gospel to every creature." — First Sentence of the rrincij^les and Practice of the C.l.M. Frontispivcc. "pHE JUBILEE ^ STORY OF THE CHINA INLAND MISSION WITH PORTRAITS ILLUSTRATIONS & MAP By ^ MARSHALL BROOMHALL, M.A. EDITORIAL SECRETARY LONDON: MORGAN ^ SCOTT, LD. 12 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C CHINA INLAND MISSION NEWINGTON GREEN, LONDON, N PHILADELPHIA, TORONTO, MELBOURNE, AND SHANGHAI MCMXV THIS RECORD OF god's faithfulness is dedicated to the memory of those who laid the foundations AND TO THOSE WHO BY THEIR GIFTS AND SERVICE ARE BUILDING THEREON Not from a stock of ours but Thine, Jesus, Thy flock we feed. Thy imexhausted grace divine Supphes their every need ; But if we trust Thy providence, Thy power and will to save. We have the treasure to dispense, And shall for ever have. ***** Our scanty stock as soon as known. Our insufficiency For feeding famished souls we own, And bring it, Lord, to Thee ; Our want received into Thy hand Shall rich abundance prove. Answer the multitude's demand. And fill them with Thy love. Charles Wesley. For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, are all things. To Him be the glory for ever. Amen. Rom. xi. 36. VI FOREWORD By the Rev. J. W. STEVENSON For fifty years a member of the China Inland Mission, and for nearly thirty years its Deputy-Director in China. Having through the providence of God been closely associ- ated with most of the events recorded in this Jubilee Story, I gladly respond to the invitation to write a short Foreword. No devout and thoughtful Christian can read these chapters, setting forth the main facts relating to the progress of the evangelization of China by the China Inland Mission, without being impressed by the unmistakable evidence of the presence and guidance of God. The record of what has been accomplished by faith and prayer is calculated to stimulate and encourage men and women everywhere more fully to trust God in all circumstances. It should be a help to the spiritual life of God's children, and lead to an increase of intercession, service, and sacrifice for the extension of the Lord's dominion over the hearts and lives of the millions of China still uninfluenced by the Gospel. The instances of privation gladly borne, and of the lives laid down for Christ's sake will move the sympathetic reader, and he will recognize that God's seal and special honour have been graciously bestowed upon the Mission. And as he ponders the long list of the beloved workers who have joined the noble army of martyrs, he will feel that a peculiar solemnity and sacredness is given to the whole record. While there is cause for thankfulness for what has been vii X THE JUBILEE STORY exceptions, no portraits have been reproduced of any who joined the Mission later than the seventies. It may be worth while to call attention to the fact that portraits of all the women who first entered the nine unoccupied in- land provinces are included. The author had hoped to publish almost simultaneously, as a special volume, the Annual Report for 191 5, giving for this Jubilee Year a brief history of every central station, instead of the usual yearly record of work done. In view of the War, and the large amount of valuable material which the workers at the stations have kindly supphed, it has seemed well to postpone this Historical Report until next year. When it is published it will, it is hoped, prove a useful addition to the present volume. The obligations of the author are many, and to all who have kindly given assistance he returns sincere and grateful thanks. Special help has been given by Mr. J. J. Coulthard during his furlough, and by Mr. T. W. Goodall, the author's esteemed editorial colleague, who has prepared the Index. Few can be more conscious than the writer of the limita- tions and defects of the book. Many readers will, it is feared, seek for what will not be found within these pages. Will such disappointed friends remember that drastic con- densation has been a matter of necessity and not of choice ? The story of the opening up of China, of the evangelization of its provinces, and of the Di\dne mercy and providential love which have encompassed the work, is so uphfting and vast, that the author has felt as though he were, to adopt a phrase of Horace, " dwarfing mighty themes.'* Yet, though this volume is but an imperfect outline, it is hoped that the bare facts recorded, even when stripped of much that could en- hance their beauty, will appear to the reader, as they have to the writer, as monuments of God's handiwork. " This is the Lord's doing ; it is marvellous in our eyes." MARSHALL BROOMHALL. China Inland Mission, London, March 31, 1915. CONTENTS Foreword, by Rev. J. W. Stevenson Author's Preface PAGE vii INTRODUCTORY CHAP. I. Early Missions to China 2. Hudson Taylor and his Call 3. Hudson Taylor's Early Experiences THE FIRST DECADE 1865-1875 4. The Birth of a Mission 5. Laying the Foundations 6. The Lammermuir Party 7. Settling Inland 8. An Enlarged Coast 9. The Yangchow Riot 10. Two New Provinces 11. Troubled on every Side 12. Faint yet Pursuing 13. The Home Department 14. Waxing Strong in Faith xi 21 27 34 41 45 53 63 68 73 79 86 Xll THE JUBILEE STORY CHAP, 15- i6. 17- i8. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23- 24. THE SECOND DECADE 1875-1885 The Appeal for the Eighteen The Door Opened . Unto the Ends of the Earth Pyrland Road Pioneers in Women's Work Blessings in Disguise A Chinese Pioneer . Healing the Sick Pioneer Work in Hunan . The Story of the Seventy PAGE 99 105 108 116 122 133 136 141 146 153 THE THIRD DECADE 1885-1895 25. "The Cambridge Seven" . 26. Organization and Expansion 27. The Kwangsin River 28. North America 29. To EVERY Creature 30. Australasia . 31. Dividing the Field , 163 170 176 183 191 199 206 THE FOURTH DECADE 1895-1905 32. The Wrath of Man 33. Newington Green .... 34. The Chefoo Schools 35. The Opening of Hunan -^5 220 225 230 CONTENTS CHAP. 36. Among the Tribes ..... 37. The Boxer Crisis ..... 38. Partakers of the Afflictions of the Gospel 39. Rebuilding the Wall .... xm PAGE 247 ^55 THE FIFTH DECADE 1905-1915 40. A Period of Transition . 41. Mass Movements and Revival 42. Grace Abounding 43. To Earth's Remotest Bounds 44. Institutional Work 45. Facts about Finance 46. The Mission from Within 47. The Revolution and After 48. The Missionary at Work . 49. All Manner of Service 50. The Year of Jubilee 263 267 274 282 291 302 314 322 328 337 347 APPENDICES The Associate Missions Chronological Summary Statistics ..... Index ..... 357 366 372 375 PORTRAITS GROUPS I. AND II. I. W. Thomas Berger. Mrs. Hudson. Taylor. 3. Theodore Howard. 4. James J. Meadows. 5. J. Hudson Taylor. 6. John W. Stevenson. 7. Emily Blatchley. I. George Stott. 4. William Cooper. 7. W. D. Rudland. I. George King. 4. James Williamson. 7, George Clarke. I. J. F. Broumton. 4. Fred. W. Bailer. 7. Samuel Clarke. 8. B. Broomhall. 2. A. W. Douthwaite. 5. D. E. Hoste. 8. W. L. Elliston. GROUPS III. AND IV. 2. George Duncan. 5. James J. Meadows. 8. George F. Easton. Henry Hunt. James M'Carthy. J. J. Coulthard. 9. Mrs. B. Broomhall. 3. R. H. A. Schofield. 6. W. W. Cassels. 9. Charles T. Fishe. Between pages 78-79. 3. James Cameron. 6. Charles H. Judd. 9. George Parker. 3. Adam. C. Dorward. 6. Edward Pearse. 9. George Nicoll. Between pages 104-105. GROUPS V. AND VI. I. Mrs. George Stott. 4. Miss Crickmay. 7. Mrs. George King. I. Mrs. F. W. Broumton. 4. Mrs. Henry Hunt. 7. Miss Kidd. 2. Mrs. F. W. Bailer. 3. Miss Desgraz. 5. Mrs. Hudson Taylor. 6. Miss Celia Home. 8. Miss E. Wilson. 9. Mrs. S. Clarke. 2. Mrs. J. J. Meadows. 3. Mrs. G. Parker. 5. Miss M. Murray. 6. Mrs. G. Nicoll. 8. Mrs. George Clarke. 9. Miss C. Kerr. Between pages 122-123. XV ILLUSTRATIONS Where Christ was not named Some Fve-Lammermuir Workers The Lammermuir Party The first North American Party The first Australasian Party The Chefoo Schools The Martyrs' Memorial Tablet Group of Chinese Workers The Shanghai Compound . A Christian Family Map of C.I.M. Stations FACE PAGE Frontispiece 29 38 183 199 225 247 267 314 347 End of volume XVI INTRODUCTORY Chap. i. Early Missions to China. „ 2. Hudson Taylor and his Call. „ ^. Hudson Taylor's Early Experiences. Christianity claims ttie world as the sphere of its operations : it knows no other locality. It commands the nations to give up nothing but what is injurious for them to retain ; and proposes nothing for their acceptance but what they are miserable without. It casts no slight on any one country, by exalting the virtues and glory of another. It repre- sents all peoples and nations as on a level in the eyes of God — as equally offenders against Him — equally subject to the decisions of His awful justice — and equally welcome to the benefits of His abundant mercy. Its moral and positive duties are equally binding on all to whom the Gospel is made known — its salvation and privileges are open on the same terms to all who will receive them, without distinction of age, rank, talent, or country ; — and its tremendous sanctions will be executed on all who reject or abuse it, without partiality, and without the possibility of appeal or escape. It commands nothing inconsistent with the outward condition of nations or of individuals ; while it contains the germ of every principle necessary to render the throne stable — the nation prosperous — the family happy — the individual virtuous — and the soul eternally blessed. — In A Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protestant Mission to China. William Milne. EARLY MISSIONS TO CHINA A FEW years ago the writer picked up, in a second-hand book- shop, a copy of a Missionary Atlas of the World, published in 1839. I^ "this atlas, probably the first comprehensive Protestant Missionary Atlas issued in modern times, there were maps of India, Ceylon, Africa, New Zealand, and even neglected South America, with many other countries, but no map of China. For such a striking omission there was, however, a sufficient though no less a sad and humbling reason. The one and only Mission Station in that great country, the City of Canton, could be, and was, marked upon the map of Asia. There was no need for a map of China in a Protestant Missionary Atlas of the World published in 1839. But what a contrast to-day ! Any map or atlas of China would need, if all stations and outstations were marked, to show not less than seven thousand places. And all this change has taken place since that first Missionary Atlas was published, when Hudson Taylor was a child of seven. Before we enter upon the story of the particular work associated with Hudson Taylor's name, it may be well to briefly survey those missionary efforts which had previously been made in and on behalf of China, some of which were prior to, as well as independent of, the life and history of the Protestant Church. Though tradition, not altogether unsupported by evidence, reports the preaching of the Gospel to the Chinese by the 3 4 INTRODUCTORY Apostle Thomas and others, the first certain knowledge of Missions to China is connected with the Nestorians, who entered that Empire as early as a.d. 505. The discovery in A.D. 1625 of the Nestorian Tablet at Sianfu — recording the arrival of a party of missionaries in A.D. 635, — the story of two Arab travellers in the ninth century, and the evidence of Marco Polo fom' centuries later, together \vith other Chinese records, all tend to prove the widespread activities of those early preachers of the Gospel. Little trace of their work, however, has been left, though it is not impossible that certain similarities between Northern Buddhism and Christianity may be attributed to their influence. During the thirteenth century, when Europe was deeply stirred by the spirit of the Crusaders, and had but recently been threatened by the hordes of Jenghis Khan, the first Rom.an Catholic emissaries set forth upon the long overland journey to the court of Kublai Khan. Here, under the patronage of that celebrated founder of the Mongol Dynasty in China, the first Roman Catholic Mission was established. The story of this effort, and especially of the labours of John de Monte Corvino, who translated the whole of the New Testament and Psalter into the language of the Tartars, and cheerfully endured great hardships until he sank beneath his labours and advancing years, at the age of seventy-eight, is full of suggestive interest. With the fall of the Mongol Dynasty, however, in 1368, after a brief sway of less than a hundred years, Christianity was for the time being swept out of China. The second Roman Catholic effort is connected with the strong missionary propaganda of the Jesuits' counter re- formation. In 1560, the Portuguese took Macao, and Valignani, the Superintendent of the Jesuit Mission in the East, who settled there, gave utterance to those oft-quoted words : " Oh, rock, rock, rock, w^hen wilt thou open ! " With the years of prosperity and court patronage, mingled, however, with periods of bitter persecution, extending from 1579 to 1722, the names of such great men as Xavier, Ricci, EARLY MISSIONS TO CHINA 5 Schall, and Verbiest are associated. With the death of Kang Hsi, the greatest of the Manchu rulers, in 1722, Roman Cathohc Missions entered upon a period of severe Hmitations and, ere long, of cruel persecution. Hundreds of Chinese converts were put to death with not a few European mission- aries. Though many of the methods employed by the followers of Loyola, Dominic, and Francis may be open to criticism, their ability and influence are beyond question, and their zeal was both an inspiration and reproof to many. Their success in living in inland China, in spite of every obstacle, was, as we shall see, one of Hudson Taylor's strong arguments for Protestant missionaries doing the same. In 1807, eight years before the Battle of Waterloo brought peace to Europe, Dr. Morrison sailed for China in connection with the London Missionary Society, as the first Protestant missionary to that great land. At this time the East India Company had the monopoly of all trade in the Far East, and in consequence of their opposition to missionary work he was compelled to travel via America. For twenty-seven years, with only one furlough, he laboured on practically alone, for Milne, who reached China in 1813 and died in 1822, was not allowed to reside either at Canton or Macao. In 1834, th^ same year as the East India Company's Charter expired, Morrison died, having left behind him for the use of his successors a Chinese and English dictionary, the whole of the Bible translated into the Chinese language, and the Anglo-Chinese College established at Malacca. These tasks had been accomplished almost single-handed, in the face of almost every discouragement short of violent expulsion from the country. Shortly before his death he had been cheered by the arrival at Canton and Macao of three American workers — Bridgman, the founder of The Chinese Repository ; Wells- Williams, the author of The Middle Kingdom, and Abeel. China was still closed to the Gospel, and the London Mission- ary Society was compelled to carry on its work for the Chinese in the Malay Peninsula, under the title of the Ultra Gangees Mission. The remarkable journeys of Karl Gutziaff 6 INTRODUCTORY along the coast of China, in Chinese junks and other vessels, during the years 1831 to 1835, aroused the greatest interest in England and America, and indirectly led to the formation of the Chinese Evangelization Society, which sent out Hudson Taylor. The cessation of the East India Company's Charter in 1834, the subsequent competition in trade, and especially in the opium traffic, with the misunderstandings between the Chinese Government and Lord Napier, who now as an official of the British Crown claimed equal rank with the Viceroy of Canton, soon gave rise to conditions which only needed time and occasion to develop into war. That occa- sion came when Commissioner Lin, in his determination to crush the illegal opium trade, blockaded the foreign factories and burnt 20,283 chests of opium, valued at two million pounds sterling. It is not possible wholly to exonerate either party in respect to the war that followed. England had been almost unbearably provoked by China's contempt and obscurantism, while China's suspicions had been in part, at least, justified by the evils of the opium traffic. No matter how many factors conspired to make up the total of ill-will which developed into war, the conflict itself, in its last issue, centred around the opium problem, and in consequence that war will, to the end of time, be not unnaturally known, to our disgrace, as the first opium war. As a result of this war, Hongkong was ceded to the British in 1841, and by the Treaty of Nanking, signed in the following year, the five Ports of Canton, Amoy, Shanghai, Ningpo, and Foochow were thrown open to trade. At the time of Dr. Monison's death there had been only two mis- sionaries actually residing on Chinese soil, Messrs. Bridgman and Wells- Williams, both of the American Board. In the same year, however, Dr. Peter Parker, the founder of Medical Missions in China, and the Rev. Edwin Stevens reached Canton. With the opening of the Treaty Ports named above, there was immediately a forward movement, and from that time these five ports, with Hongkong, became new centres of missionary activity. EARLY MISSIONS TO CHINA 7 When the Treaty was signed in 1842 there were thirty- two persons actively engaged in work among the Chinese, either in China or in the Straits Settlements. Most of these naturally availed themselves of the newly opened doors, and transferred their work direct to Chinese soil. Such in brief was the situation when the burden of China began to be laid upon the heart of young Hudson Taylor. II HUDSON TAYLOR AND HIS CALL In 1832 James Hudson Taylor was born at Barnsley in Yorkshire. Before his birth his father had been deeply moved in regard to the spiritual needs of China, in conse- quence of reading several books upon that country, and especially one by Captain Basil Hall. Being prevented himself from going out as a missionary, he and his wife definitely prayed that if God should give them a son, that son might dedicate his life to that great land. This hope was treasured up \vithin their hearts, and never mentioned even to that son until he had been more than seven years in the foreign field. The call, if there was to be one, must come direct from God Himself. Hudson Taylor, brought up amid the helpful influences of a godly home, early had his heart softened towards things Divine, and though he passed through a period of spiritual indifference, and even of scepticism, about the age of sixteen, he definitely accepted the atoning work of Christ on his behalf in June 1849, when seventeen years of age. It was not many months after this decisive experience ere he heard the Call of God for the Mission Field. Having a leisure afternoon, he retired to his own room for a time of com- munion with God. " Well do I remember that occasion/' he wrote in later years, " how in the gladness of my heart I poured out my soul before God, and again and again confessed my grateful love to Him who had done everything for me — who had saved me when I had given up all hope and even desire for salvation. I besought Him to give me some work 8 HUDSON TAYLOR AND HIS CALL 9 to do for Him^ as an outlet for love and gratitude ; some self-denying service, no matter what it might be, however trying and trivial ; some- thing with which He would be pleased and that I might do for Him who had done so much for me. Well do I remember, as in unreserved consecration I put myself, my Hfe, my friends, my all, upon the altar, the deep solemnity that came over my soul with the assurance that my offering was accepted. The presence of God became unutterably real and blessed ; and though but a child ... I remember stretching myself on the ground and lying there silent before Him with unspeak- able awe and unspeakable joy." Although from this time forth he felt the Call of God upon him, and not free to accept other openings in life which were offered to him, he did not then know for what service he had been accepted. Before the year 1849 closed, how- ever, the claims of China had been laid heavily upon him. At that time there were but few books upon that country which were accessible, but he succeeded in borrowing a copy of Dr. Medhurst's China, the perusal of which strengthened his sense of China's need, and at the same time impressed him with the value of Medical Missions. This impression directed the course of his studies during the next two or three years. But the Call of God to China was to be even more definite yet. It came to him, so wrote his mother in her little book of recollections, as definitely as if a voice had spoken the words, " Then go for Me to China." Concerning this experience Mr. Taylor wrote himself : Never shall I forget the feeling that came over me then. Words can never describe it. I felt I was in the presence of God, entering into covenant with the Almighty. I felt as though I wished to with- draw my promise, but could not. Something seemed to say, " Your prayer is answered, your conditions are accepted." And from that time the conviction never left me that I was called to China. Nearly four years were yet to elapse ere he set sail for that distant land, and these years were to be full of spiritual and intellectual preparation. He was to be brought so to subject his will to God as to be willing, on account of family claims, to remain at home. He was to be tested through his affectionate nature as to whether this call to the foreign 10 INTRODUCTORY field, or the heart of the lover, should govern his conduct. He was, through many and varied experiences, some of which sounded the very depths of his soul, to prove the power of prayer to move the arm of God. He was to learn many real lessons of faith in God, in whom both he and those who subsequently joined him were to put their trust. In the midst of such lessons on the deepest things of the Spirit he steadily and hopefully continued his medical and other studies. And all this time the call to China was sounding louder and louder in his ears. In the spring of 1850 a magazine entitled The Gleaner in the Mission Field began to be pub- lished, in order to give the latest tidings of Dr. Gutzlaff and his workers in China. The information thus supplied was eagerly devoured by the would-be worker in that field, and through this medium he was introduced to the Chinese Evangelization Society, under which organization he was ere long to set forth. All his correspondence at this time reveals how heavily the burden of China had been laid upon his heart. The zeal of the Lord literally consumed him, and we find him in 1852 writing to his mother in the following strain : Oh Mother, I cannot tell you, I cannot describe how I long to be a missionary ; to carry the Glad Tidings to poor perishing sinners ; to spend and to be spent for Him who died for me. I feel as if for this I could give up everything, every idol, however dear. ... I feel as if I could not live if something is not done for China. Thus burdened, and with the flame of sacred love burning in his heart, he prayed and sought to know God's Will as to the channel through which he should set forth, for Go he must, whether he went unsupported or not. The Societies which then had work abroad were thought of, but of them he wrote in 1850 to his sister : The Wesleyans have no station in China. The Established Church have one or two, but I am not a Churchman. The Baptists and In- dependents have stations there, but I do not hold their views. Thus exercised he was the more cast upon God for guid- ance, and He, in whose hands are all our ways, led him to HUDSON TAYLOR AND HIS CALL ii offer to the Chinese EvangeHzation Society. By them he was gladly accepted, and on September 19, 1853, as a young man of only twenty-one, he set sail from Liverpool in the sailing ship Dumfries, a. vessel of scarcely 470 tons burden. After a voyage of over five months, beset at times with almost overwhelming dangers, he safely landed at Shanghai on March i, 1854. Ill HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES From that spring day in 1854, when Hudson Taylor landed in Shanghai, to the midsummer of i860, when he embarked for England, the future founder of the China Inland Mission was to pass through a period of severe missionary probationer- ship, all-important to himself and to the future work. Into these nearly six and a half years were to be crowded many and varied experiences, all of which were to test and prove the man as well as the principles upon which he was to establish that Mission. The period therefore was one of fundamental importance, and there is a natural temptation to tell somewhat in detail the story of these years, so pregnant with great issues, but as the story has already been so fully told elsewhere,^ we must content ourselves with briefly summarizing some of the outstanding facts and lessons. Distance was a formidable reahty in 1854, when Hudson Taylor first reached Shanghai. The Suez Canal had, of course, not been opened, and ocean-going steamers, with the exception of an occasional gunboat, were almost unknown in Eastern waters. Japan was as yet a closely sealed country, and telegraphic communication with the Far East was not even partially established until ten years later. Those were the days of the sailing vessels, of the famous tea-clippers, and, sad to say, of the armed opium schooners, with their sinister traffic. Letters to China cost 2s. 8d. per half ounce, and the charges on each separate paper was 6d. 1 A Retrospect, by J. Hudson Taylor ; and Hudson Taylor in Early Years, by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. 12 HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES 13 Up to 1846 ten months had been necessary to get an answer to a letter from China, but though this period had been considerably shortened, for the mails, when Hudson Taylor sailed, he must have felt keenly his isolation when he stepped ashore at Shanghai, an unknown and un welcomed stranger. And as to the country itself, he was to find this in no suitable state for residence. The Taiping Rebellion, which had broken out in 1850, and had in its earlier stages inspired the hope within many hearts that it would prove to be a mass movement toward Christianity, had begun to degenerate into a cruel and sanguinary movement, which was for the next ten years to devastate the fairest provinces of China, and result in the loss of millions of lives. Shanghai itself had fallen into the hands of a band of rebels, known as the Red- Turbans, while an army of from forty thousand to fifty thousand Imperial troops had infested the city, to the no small danger and discomfort of the little European community. Under such circumstances living outside of the Settle- ment was impossible, yet within that limited and privileged area accommodation was scarcely to be had at any price. To make matters worse, the dollar had risen to an almost prohibitive figure, so that the prospects of the new arrival, who had only a small income in English money, were dark indeed. Of two friends, to whom he had letters of intro- duction, one was dead and the other had left the country, but through the third and last letter, addressed to Dr. Medhurst, he was introduced to Dr. Lockhart, who most kindly allowed him to live with him for a period of six months. Upon the expiration of these six months, which had been assiduously devoted to study, he moved into the Chinese city, although such a step was attended with no little danger. It was only for a few months, however, that this attempt to live among the people was practicable, for when the French joined the Imperialists in attacking the city, he was obliged to return to the Foreign Settlement. " Of the trial of this early period/' he subsequently wrote^ " it is scarcely possible to convey any adequate idea. To one of a sensitive 14 INTRODUCTORY nature, the horrors, atrocities, and misery connected with war were a terrible ordeal. The embarrassment, also, of the times was consider- able. With an income of only eighty pounds a year, I was compelled, upon moving into the Settlement, to give one hundred and twenty for rent, and sublet half the house. . . . Few can realize how distressing to so young and untried a worker these difficulties seemed, or the intense loneliness of the position of a pioneer who could not even hint at many of his circumstances, as to do so would have been a tacit appeal for help." Such were some of the adverse conditions under which the young missionary entered upon his new sphere of service, and in which he had in a very practical way to learn to lean upon his God. Nothing daunted, however, he steadily faced the appointed task, and in the autumn of his first year set forth, in company with Dr. Edkins, on his first missionary journey. The greater part of the next year, too, was de- voted to a series of extensive and arduous journeys, some- times in company with the Rev. J. S. Burdon, afterwards Bishop of Victoria, Hongkong, with whom he endured no little rough handling from some of the mobs encountered. It was at this time that he was led to adopt the Chinese dress, a custom which, in consequence of its manifest advantages for living and working inland, became, with a few exceptions, general in later years throughout the Mission. Toward the close of 1855, in consequence of consular instructions forbidding him to settle on Tsungming island, where he had successfully rented premises, he was obliged, with a sad heart, to return to Shanghai. This prohibition, disappointing as it was at the time, was instrumental in bringing him into contact with the Rev. William Burns, of the English Presbyterian Mission, with whom he was to be closely associated for some seven months. Together these two workers engaged at first in evangelizing many cities and towns in southern Kiangsu and northern Chekiang, and later, in similar work in the city of Swatow. These months of fellowship with so experienced a Christian and soul-winner were of great value to Hudson Taylor at this formative period of his life. Writing in later years of those days, he said : HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES 15 Those happy months were an unspeakable joy and privilege to me. His love for the Word was delightful, and his holy and reverential Hfe and constant communings with God made fellowship with him satisfy- ing to the deep cravings of my heart. His accounts of revival work and of persecution in Canada and Dublin, and in Southern China were most instructive, as well as interesting ; for with true spiritual insight he often pointed out God's purpose in trial in a way that made all Ufe assume quite a new aspect and value. His views, especially about evangelism as the great work of the Church, and the order of lay evangelists as a lost order that Scripture required to be restored, were seed-thoughts which were to prove fruitful in the subsequent organiza- tion of the China Inland Mission. When in July 1856 Hudson Taylor left Swatow to fetch his medical outfit from Shanghai, he had hoped soon to re- join Mr. Bums. But this was not to be. Upon reaching Shanghai, he was distressed to learn that all his medical instruments and stores had been destroyed by fire. Hoping to obtain a fresh supply from his colleague, Dr. Parker, he set off for Ningpo, but on this journey was robbed of all his possessions, valued at about ^^40. This trying experience was overruled of God to affect his future in more ways than one. In the first place it delayed his immediate return to Swatow, which was providential. For some years past there had been strained relations at Canton between the Chinese and foreigners, and Lord Palmerston had resolved " to take advantage of the first occasion to coerce the Chinese into relations of a normal character." The seizure by the Chinese of the lorcha Arrow, and the hauling down of the British Flag, which it was illegally flying, gave the occasion, and from that date, in October 1856, until the ratification, at Peking in October i860, of the Treaty of Tientsin, signed two years before, an almost continuous state of hostilities continued between the two nations. Under such circumstances a return to the south was im- practicable and dangerous, and, moreover, William Burns had been arrested and sent to Canton. Thus was his way hedged in until there seemed no other course open for him but to return to Ningpo and unite in service with his brethren. Dr. Parker and Mr. John Jones of the Chinese Evangelization Society. And indeed, the same Spirit who i6 INTRODUCTORY suffered not St. Paul to go into Bithynia was guiding the footsteps of Hudson Taylor also, for the three and a half years of more settled work in Ningpo which followed were to play no unimportant part in his preparation for future leadership. And even his robbery upon the road was not without its blessings, for his policy of not prosecuting the man who had robbed him so commended itself to a Christian in England as to secure the lasting friendship of one who was to be a generous donor for years to come. These years at Ningpo were lived in the midst of troublous times, as has been suggested above. The bombardment of Canton was not unnaturally resented by the Cantonese Hving in Ningpo, and only the guardian hand of God dehvered the little band of workers in "that city from deliberately planned massacre. And while learning to trust God for protection from evil, the young missionary learned to trust God more fully for his daily bread. It was during this period (May 1857) that he and Mr. Jones were led to sever their connection with the Chinese Evangelization Society, in consequence of that organization being so frequently in debt. This separation, which took place without the least breach of friendly feeling on either side, was not a Httle trying to faith, but here again opportunity was afforded of testing on the field the principle of faith in God for temporal supplies which was to be so extensively relied upon in years to come. It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that it was at this time that the mottoes of " Ebenezer " and " Jehovah Jireh," which have meant so much to the Mission ever since, were apparently adopted. In January 1858, Hudson Taylor was married to Miss Maria Dyer, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Dyer, one of the early representatives of the London Missionary Society in the Far East. Blessed with such a helpmeet, he gave all his time and strength to evangelistic work, until, in 1859 when Dr. Parker left for England, he took over the care of the hospital also. Thus, really overwhelmed with work and tried by sickness, he and his noble wife laboured on, proving God's sufficiency for every need, in the midst of much bitter anti-foreign feeling, which at times threatened life itself. HUDSON TAYLOR'S EARLY EXPERIENCES 17 The need of helpers was, of course, sorely felt, and on January 16, i860, Hudson Taylor wrote home to his parents : Do you know any earnest, devoted young men desirous of serving God in China, who, not wishing for more than their actual support, would be willing to come out and labour here ? Oh for four or five such helpers ! They would probably begin to preach in Chinese in six months' time ; and in answer to prayer the necessary means for their support would be found. But this was not to be yet. The incessant physical and mental strain involved in caring for a growing Church, as well as the hospital, were more than health could stand, and by the summer of the same year an immediate furlough became necessary, if life was to be spared. Hudson Taylor was therefore under the painful necessity of closing the hospital, and of leaving the little company of from thirty to forty Christians who had been gathered together. Taking with him a young Chinese to help in literary work at home, he and his wife set sail for England (July i860), earnestly praying that through their home-going God would raise up fresh labourers for the needy province of Chekiang. THE FIRST DECADE 1865-1875 Chap. The Birth of a Mission. Laying the Foundations. The Lammermuir Party. Settling Inland. An Enlarged Coast. The Yangchow Riot. Two New Provinces. Troubled on Every Side. Faint yet Pursuing. The Home Department. Waxing Strong in Faith. 19 It is not easy everywhere, especially in England, to set about doing what no one has done before. Many people will undergo considerable risks, even that of death itself, when they know that they are engaged in a cause wliich, besides approving itself to their consciences, commands sympathy and approval, when they know that their motives are ap- preciated and their conduct applauded. But in this case custom was to be violated, precedent broken through, the surprise, sometimes the censure, of the world to be braved. And do not underrate that obstacle. We hardly know the strength of those social ties that bind us until the moment when we attempt to break them. Florence Nightingale. What I have to tell you illustrates two truths, which are, to my mxind, confirmed by the inner history of all vital evolutions of which we know anything in the past history of the human race. The first of these two truths or principles is, that in order to produce a movement of a vital spiritual nature some one must suffer, some one must go through sore travail of soul before a living movement, outwardly visible, can be born. . . , The second truth which, I think, is illustrated by our experience is this : a movement which is of God, of divine origin, and which is rooted in the will of Him who is the God of Justice, is and must be preceded by prayer. It must have its origin in His own inspiration. Josephine E. Butler. IV THE BIRTH OF A MISSION Much of the world's work is done by pent-up forces. The steam which drives the engine does so because it is conserved and fettered. Its very Hmitations are the secret of its power. And this is sometimes true in human Hfe. What are the yearnings of the heart but the pent-up forces of love. And nothing can so intensify these as to hedge in their activities. This was to be the experience of Hudson Taylor now. The call of God and the needs of China had brought him out from home to the land of his adoption, and there, face to face with the actual facts of heathenism, he had realized as never before how unutterably real were China's spiritual need and claims. With an unreserved devotion he had thrown himself into the midst of the conflict, and had undoubtedly found no small relief in the joys of active service. But now that outlet for his passionate love was to be stopped through failing health. The little group of Chinese converts, to whom he had become so attached, must be left behind, as well as the unevangelized millions. To Hudson Taylor this failure of health seemed nothing less than a great calamity, and his only relief was to be found in earnest pleadings with God. But He who orders all our ways was planning for His servant far more wisely than could then be seen. The day before leaving China Mr. Taylor had written to his kind friend, Mr. W. T. Berger, saying : 21 22 THE FIRST DECADE We are bringing a young Chinese brother with us, to assist in translating, and, I hope, to assist in teaching the dialect to fellow- workers, if the Lord induces any to return with us. And all the way throughout the voyage home, he and his wife had prayed that God would make this enforced furlough the means of raising up at least five helpers to labour in Ningpo and the province of Chekiang. The larger needs of inland China had not then begun to press upon him as a practical problem. That was to come, as we shall see. Meanwhile, the prayer was for " at least five helpers " for the needs of Ningpo and locality, and in this he was to prove that prayer was God's method for calling forth labourers as well as for obtaining funds to support them. When Mr. Taylor first reached England he did not anticipate any lengthened stay, but medical opinion soon assured him that any return to China for some years was impossible. Saddened and perplexed by such a prospect, he settled in East London, where he devoted himself, with the Rev. F. F. Gough of the Church Missionary Society, to the revision of a version of the New Testament in the Ningpo colloquial, as well as to the completion of his medical studies at the London Hospital, when he took his M.R.C.S. degree. During this same period of study and literary work he was brought into contact with some whose hearts were being drawn towards China. These were invited to come and spend some time beneath his roof, and there through personal contact and their success in the study of Chinese, their fitness for the field was tested. And prayer was answered, for from that home in East London the workers asked of God for the little Ningpo Mission all set forth. The first of these were Mr. and Mrs. Meadows, who sailed in January 1862, while the last three sailed in April 1865. These were the forerunners of many hundreds who were to follow in later years. While these practical illustrations of answered prayer were being given, — and the detailed story of these years shows how fully God was guiding, — Hudson Taylor was being trained of God in another school for his future re- sponsibihties. THE BIRTH OF A MISSION 23 " While in the field/' he wrote^ " the pressure of claims immediately around me was so great that I could not think much of the still greater needs of regions farther inland ; and if they were thought of^ could do nothing for them. But while detained for some years in England^ daily viewing the whole country on the large map on the wall of my study, I was as near to the vast regions of Inland China as the smaller districts in which I had laboured personally for God ; and prayer was often the only resource by which the burdened heart could gain any rehef." At the same time as this wider vision of China's need was being given, a deeper insight into God's purpose was being gained. The message to Israel of old was coming home to him — " Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations ; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes." The daily sight of that map of China, with its vast unevangelized regions, came as a daily call to lengthen the cords, while the daily study of God's Word for the purposes of translation was a daily lesson in strengthening the stakes. " In undertaking this (translation) work, in my shortsightedness," he wrote, " I saw nothing beyond the use that Book, and the marginal references, would be to the native Christians ; but I have often seen since that, without those months of feeding and feasting on the Word of God, I should have been quite unprepared to form, on its present basis, a Mission like the China Inland Mission. " In the study of the Divine Word I learned that to obtain successful labourers, not elaborate appeals for help, but first, earnest prayer to God to thrust forth labourers, and, second, the deepening of the spiritual hfe of the Church, so that men should be unable to stay at home, were what was needed. I saw that the Apostolic plan was not to raise ways and means, but to go and do the work, trusting in the sure word, which had said, ' Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' " It was during this period when Hudson Taylor was engaged in study, in the translation of the Scriptures, and constant prayer for China, that a request came from the Rev. W. G. Lewis of Bayswater, the Editor of the Baptist Missionary Magazine, for a series of articles on China. This seemed to be God's opening for placing the facts 24 THE FIRST DECADE before the public, but the subject proved gi-eater than had been anticipated, and what was commenced for this magazine grew into a book of over one hundred pages. The detailed study of the facts, which was necessary for the writing of this book, only fanned the flame of zeal within the heart of the writer, and though the final results were not published until October 1865, the many months of prayerful pondering over the needs of China — for the book was more than a year in preparation — played an important part in leading up to the momentous decision at Brighton in June 1865. It was evident that, all his experiences were heading up to a crisis. He had been much exercised as to whether he ought not to join one or other of the existing Missionary Societies, and he had approached the leading Missions in England in regard to the needs of Inland China. But their hands were already full, funds were short, and, moreover, Inland China was regarded at that time as closed. While engaged in prayer and conference with his friend and fellow- worker, the Rev. F. F. Gough, and also with Mr. and Mrs. Berger, and his own wife, the growing conviction laid hold upon him that God would have him venture forth himself in faith.^ On June i, 1865, he wrote to his mother from East Grinstead : I desire^ if the Lord will^ to get four missionaries, two married and two single, off by the end of the summer or the beginning of the autumn. ... It is much pressed on me to try and get twenty more European missionaries besides these four, so as to send at least two 1 In the discussions connected with the founding of the Church Mis- sionary Society, it was decided " that, if clergymen could not be obtained, laymen should be employed as catechist to teach the Gospel to the heathen. The remark of Mr. Venn, in reply to an alleged objection that such a proceeding would violate Church order, was this : ' I would sacrifice a great deal to preserve Church order, but not the salvation of souls.' " — Memoirs of Rev. Henry Venn, vSecretary Church Missionary Society. " Wesley's conviction of the importance and necessity of the lay ministry had been deepened since the last session. Providential circum- stances every day rendered it m.ore evident that the great reUgious interest which had begun in the land must be conducted forward chiefly by that agency or be generally abandoned. Next to revelation itself, such pro- vidential indications were decisive to Wesley's judgment." — Stevens' History of Methodism, vol. i. p. 246. THE BIRTH OF A MISSION 25 into each province of China Proper in which there is no missionary, and two into Chinese Tartary ; and to try to send with them an equal number of Chinese helpers, making in all forty-eight persons (beside those on the way) requiring support. The expense of these would exceed £5000 a year. Will you earnestly pray God to guide me aright whether to attempt this or not ? It was an encouragement, in considering this great undertaking, to know that Mr. Berger had promised to care for the work at home, but it was a large venture of faith, and as he faced all that was involved, while he was bound to confess that God was able, he yet dreaded the responsibility. It was true that he had already proved God's faithfulness to himself personally, and the five workers prayed for had been given and their needs supplied. Yet he shrank from all that was involved in leadership, and held back, until the hidden fires of this controversy with God began slowly to undermine his health. '' The feeling of blood-guiltiness became more and more intense." " Perishing China so filled my heart," he wrote, " that there was no rest by day and little sleep by night." It was while he was in this state of heart and mind that his old friend, Mr. George Pearse, concerned about his health, invited him to Brighton. Concerning the crisis which followed, we must quote Mr. Taylor's own words. These are as follows : On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a congrega- tion of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony ; and there the Lord conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to God for this service. I told Him that all the responsibihty as to issues and con- sequences must rest with Him ; that as His servant, it was mine to obey and to follow Him — His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once flowed into my burdened heart ? There and then I asked Him for twenty-four fellow-workers, two for each of the eleven inland provinces which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia ; and writing the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home with a heart enjoying rest such as it had been a stranger to for months, and with an assurance that the Lord would bless His own work, and that I should share in the blessing. 24 THE FIRST DECADE before the public, but the subject proved gi'eater than had been anticipated, and what was commenced for this magazine grew into a book of over one hundred pages. The detailed study of the facts, which was necessary for the writing of this book, only fanned the flame of zeal \\itliin the heart of the writer, and though the final results were not published until October 1865, the many months of praj'erful pondering over the needs of China — for the book was more than a year in preparation — played an important part in leading up to the momentous decision at Brighton in June 1S65. It was e\ident that, all his experiences were heading up to a crisis. He had been much exercised as to whether he ought not to join one or other of the existing ^lissionary Societies, and he had approached the leading Missions in England in regard to the needs of Inland China. But their hands were already full, funds were short, and, moreover. Inland China was regarded at that time as closed. While engaged in prayer and conference with his friend and fellow- worker, the Rev. F. F. Gough, and also ^^ith ]\Ir. and Mrs. Berger, and his own \rife, the growing con\dction laid hold upon him that God would have him venture forth himself in faith.^ On June i, 1865, he \\Tote to his mother from East Grinstead : I desire^ if the Lord will, to get four missionaries, two married and two single, off by the end of the summer or the beginning of the autumn. ... It is much pressed on me to try and get twenty more European missionaries besides these four, so as to send at least two 1 In the discussions connected with the founding of the Church IVIis- sionary Society, it was decided " that, if clergymen could not be obtained, laymen should be employed as catechist to teach the Gospel to the heathen. The remark of Mr. Venn, in reply to an alleged objection that such a proceeding would violate Church order, was this : ' I would sacrifice a great deal to preserve Church order, but not the salvation of souls.' " — Memoirs of Rev. Henry Venn, .Secretary Church Missionary Society. " Wesley's conviction of the importance and necessity of the lay ministry had been deepened since the last session. Providential circum- stances every day rendered it more evident that the great reUgious interest which had begun in the land must be conducted forward chiefly by that agency or be generally abandoned. Next to revelation itself, such pro- vidential indications were decisive to Wesley's judgment." — Stevens' History of Methodism, vol. i. p. 246. THE BIRTH OF A MISSION 25 into each province of China Proper in which there is no missionary, and two into Chinese Tartary ; and to trv- to send with them an eqiial number of Chinese helpers^ making in all fomy-eight persons (beside those on the way) requiring support. The expense of these would exceed £5000 a year. WiU you earnestly pray God to guide me aright whether to attempt this or not ? It was an encouragement, in considering this great undertaking, to know that >Ir. Berger had promised to care for the work at home, but it was a large venture of faith, and as he faced all that was involved, while he was bound to confess that God was able, he yet dreaded the responsibihty. It was true that he had already proved God's faithfulness to himself personally, and the five workers prayed for had been given and their needs suppHed. Yet he shrank from all that was involved in leadership, and held back, until the hidden fires of this controversy with God began slowly to undermine his health. " The feehng of blood-guiltiness became more and more intense." *' Perishing China so filled my heart," he wrote, " that there was no rest by day and little sleep by night." It was while he was in this state of heart and mind that his old friend, >Ir. George Pearse, concerned about his health, in\ited him to Brighton. Concerning the crisis which followed, we must quote Mr. Taylor's own words. These are as follows : On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a congrega- tion of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security^ while miUions were perishing for lack of knowledge. I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony ; and there the Lord conquered my unbeUef, and I surrendered myseK to God for this service. I told Him that aU the responsibihty as to issues and con- sequences must rest with Hi m ; that as His servant, it was mine to obey and to foUow Him — His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once flowed into my burdened heart ? There and then I asked Him for twenty-four feUow- workers, two for each of the eleven inland provinces which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia ; and writing the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home with a heart enjo\Tng rest such as it had been a stranger to for months, and with an assurance that the Lord would bless His own work, and that I should share in the blessing. 28 THE FIRST DECADE had in Articles VIIL, IX., and XII. promised religious liberty, authorized British subjects to travel inland, and also permitted the building of Churches and Hospitals. What was there to hinder ? Nothing, apparently, but the apathy and indifference of so-called followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Were not Roman Catholics already living and working in the interior ? Then, why should not Protestants do so also ? This argument is somewhat fully referred to in the first edition of the book, but in the third edition, issued three years later, the contrast of these two Churches is more fully set forth as a reproach to Protestant Christendom. " We refer the reader," he writes, " to the deeply important paper appended to the preface to this (the third) edition — the comparative table of statistics of Roman Catholic and Protestant Missions in China in 1866 — which will prove most suggestive to the thoughtful mind. How is it that 286 Roman Catholic missionaries, with but few exceptions, not only can live but are actually residing in the interior, are labouring in each of the eighteen provinces (and in the outlying regions), and are spread over the whole extent of these provinces ; while the 112 Protestant missionaries, with still fewer exceptions, are congregated together in the few free Ports of commerce ? " A first edition of three thousand copies of this burning appeal was published in October, through the generous help of Mr. Berger, and copies were by permission freely dis- tributed at the Mildmay Conference, held that year, which at that time was held in the last week of October. Another edition was called for in the following year, and another in 1868, and again another in 1872, and then for a time the book was allowed to go out of print. But between June 1884 ^^^ September of the same year a fifth edition of five thousand copies was exhausted, and a sixth and seventh edition followed soon after. We have briefly related these facts in regard to the circulation of this remarkable book, because its influence was felt far and v^de, and led not a few in later years to offer themselves for service in China. We must now, however, retrace our steps to the days when the book was being completed. In addition to this printed appeal, opportunities were sought for personally P3 4:r W S o ^ LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 29 speaking to God's people. To this end Mr. Taylor attended the Annual Conference for the Deepening of the Spiritual Life at Perth in 1865, and, as we have already mentioned, spoke at Mildmay, where he circulated his book. In February of the following year he visited Ireland in company with Mr. Grattan Guinness, and held meetings at Dubhn, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, and other places. It was upon this occasion that he met an interesting group of men in Mr. Grattan Guinness' theological class at Dublin. Among these were John McCarthy, Charles and Edward Fishe, and the subsequently famous Thomas Barnardo. With the exception of Mr. Barnardo, all these went forth to China, and Barnardo himself came to London as a candidate ; but while engaged in his medical studies, at the suggestion of Mr. Taylor, his well-known work for the outcast children of London began, which proved to be God's call to him to stay at home. The interest at home had begun to grow. On October 3, 1865, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Stevenson and Mr. Stott had sailed for China, to strengthen the hands of the little group already there, and applications from more than forty volunteers soon gladdened Mr. Taylor's heart. From among these some fifteen or sixteen of the most suitable candidates were invited to come and stay with Mr. and Mrs. Taylor in East London, that their qualifications for the work might be tested. The home at Beaumont Street had already proved too small, and a larger house in Coborn Road had been taken, which, however, soon became inadequate. While God was thus blessing and developing the work, much time was being spent by Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and Mr. and Mrs. Berger, sometimes at the lovely home of the latter at East Grinstead, in earnest prayer and conference as to the principles and practice which should govern the new organization. Without any attempt to lay down detailed rules, a few broad principles began gradually to manifest themselves as essentials for hearty co-operation. With these as a basis, the future could safely be left with God, Who, as His people walked with Him, would reveal His mind and will as the work developed. It was wise that 30 THE FIRST DECADE it should be so, for as another, whose influence has been felt throughout the world, has said, " The small still beginning, the simple hardship, the silent and gradual struggle upw^ards, these are the climate in which an enterprise really thrives and grows. Time has not altered our Saviour's lesson on that point, which has been learnt successively by all re- formers from their own experience," ^ In the first place, it was decided to form the Mission upon a broad catholic basis, the work to be evangelistic and interdenominational, the few workers who had gone forth before the close of 1865 being from most of the leading denominations of Great Britain. Then in regard to the labourers themselves, while it was acknowledged, and we quote from the first edition of China s Spiritual Need and Claims, that " there is ample scope for the highest talents that could be laid upon the altar of God ; there being an urgent call for men filled with love to God^ whose superior education would enable them to occupy spheres of usefulness into which others could not enter " ; yet " the proposed field is so extensive, and the need of labourers of every class is so great, that ' the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee ' ; nor yet again the head to the feet, ' I have no need of you ' ; therefore persons of moderate ability and hmited attainments are not precluded from engaging in the work. . . , There was need of and work for a Paul, an Apollos, a Luke, as well as those who were manifestly ' un- learned and ignorant,' but of whom men ' took knowledge that they had been with Jesus.' " It was intended, for the early days at least, that Ningpo and its neighbourhood should be the base for their operations, and it was therefore proposed to select one of the towns or cities easily approached from Ningpo as headquarters. Events justified this proposal, for Hangchow became the centre of affairs during the earlier years. There the early missionaries were to increase their acquaintance with the language, and acquire a knowledge of the habits and customs of the Chinese, and there they could assume the dress of the people and begin to labour among them. From that centre they were to go forth to more distant provinces, 1 Florence Nightingale. LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 31 and to that centre they could return in case of sickness or persecution. In regard to funds, it was estimated that on the plans and extent proposed a yearly expenditure of about £5600 would be needed in addition to the £2600 required for outfit and passage money. " These are large sums," wrote Mr. Taylor, " but they will not exhaust the resources of our Father, who said, ' Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.' " A sum of £2000, or a proportionate part of the expenses of each of the labourers had been promised. One worker was already supported by a Church at home, and it was believed and hoped that other Churches or private individuals would be led to take a similar course. An account was opened in the London and County Bank, and it being necessary for this purpose to adopt a definite name, that of the China Inland Mission was finally decided upon, as being on the whole most suitable, though it was added, " We do not, in adopting the title China Inland Mission, propose to abandon the work at the base line of Ningpo." This principle, it may be said, has governed the Mission in all its developments inland ever since. Mr. W. T. Berger had already consented to carry on the work of the Home Department when Mr. Taylor should return to the Field, so friends were notified that contributions could be sent direct to the Bank, or to W. T. Berger, Esq., Saint Hill, East Grinstead, or to Mr. Hudson Taylor at 30 Coborn Road, Bow, until his departure. It was decided that there should be no collections or authorized appeals for support, in order that funds might not be deflected from other channels. Thus, although Mr. Taylor did not hesitate, when he thought it desirable, as the early records of the Mission will show, to publicly state what financial outlay certain developments involved, there was to be no soh citation of money, but a simple dependence upon God to move the hearts of His stewards, as His servants obeyed His bidding. It was also thought desirable that the workers should adopt Chinese dress. The advantages of this Mr. Taylor had himself proved, and in the third edition of China's 32 THE FIRST DECADE Spiritual Need and Claims, published in 1868, was printed an Appendix of ten pages, mainly taken from a paper prepared for candidates, setting forth in forcible argument the reasons for this practice. A few extracts from that paper may well be quoted here, rather to indicate the spirit which was to animate and govern the whole Mission than to prove the advisability of the adoption of the Chinese dress, which was in reality only one incident in the mis- sionary's attitude towards the people he sought to win. " Had our Lord appeared on earth as an angel of light/' Mr. Taylor wrote, *' He would doubtless have inspired far more awe and reverence, and would have collected together even larger multitudes to attend His ministry. But to save man He became man, not merely like man, but very man. And furthermore. He was specially sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The immediate objects of His personal ministry being those under the law. He likewise was made, born, under the law ; and became, not a mere proselyte, but a real Jew, for it became Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren. In language, in costume, in everything unsinful. He made Himself one with those He sought to benefit. Had He been born a noble Roman, rather than a Jew, He would, perhaps, if less loved, have commanded more of a certain respect ; and He would assuredly have been spared much indignity to which He was subjected. This, however, was not His aim : He emptied Himself. Surely no follower of the meek and lowly Jesus will be likely to conclude that it is ' beneath the dignity of a Christian missionary ' to seek identification with this poor people, in the hope that he may see them washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ! " " There is, perhaps, no country in the world in which religious toleration is carried to so great an extent as in China. The chief objection that prince and people have to Christianity is, that it is a foreign religion, and that its tendencies are to approximate believers to foreign nations. I am not peculiar in holding the opinion that the foreign dress and carriage of missionaries — to a certain extent affected by some of their converts and pupils, — the foreign appearance of the chapels, and indeed, the foreign air given to everything connected with religion, have very largely hindered the rapid dissemination of the truth among the Chinese." . . . " Let us live in their houses, making no unnecessary alterations in external form, and only so far modifying their internal arrangements as attention to health and efficiency for work absolutely require. Our present experience is proving the advantage of this course. . . . " Having now given in detail my reasons for maintaining the LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 33 general principle of conforming oneself as far as possible to the social condition of the people for whose welfare we labour^ and having pointed out the applicability of this principle to the case of the Chinese in particular, together with some of the collateral advantages resulting therefrom, it will be seen that it is not without reason that I desire to see this principle thoroughly carried into effect. Should any of you conclude to join our work, I trust you will do so with a full under- standing of its nature, and the determination, by God's help, to act in consistency with it. Let there be no reservation : give yourself up wholly and fully to Him whose you are, and whom you wish to serve in this work, and then there can be no disappointment." VI THE "LAMMERMUIR" PARTY With the closing of the year 1865, the year which had seen the foundations of the Mission laid, all the friends and students at Coborn Road gathered together for a special day of prayer and fasting. ^ There were many things in the retrospect, even at that early date, for which to thank God, while the problems of the new year, upon the threshold of which they then stood, were such as to call for earnest prayer and supplication. Nine workers had already gone forth to China, of whom three were still upon the sea. In and around Ningpo upwards of one hundred converts had been baptized since the autumn of 1857, ^.nd several members of that Church were showing real zeal by spending all their spare time in evangelistic work. At home, also, there were encouraging signs of God's presence. The house at 30 Coborn Road had proved too small for the growing work, so that No. 34 and half of No. 33 had been taken, and so far all the expenses of rent, taxes, board, firing, and salaries had been met by special donations given for that purpose. A valuable printing press, with two fonts of type, a lithographic press, and a large electro-magnetic machine had been presented to the Mission for the work in China. During the year £1130 : 9 : 2 had been received towards the Mission's expenses, of which sum over £900 had been given since that memorable day in June at Brighton. All these things, 1 From that time onward, December 31 and May 26, the anniversary of the saihng of the Lammermuir , have been observed as days of prayer and fasting throughout the Mission. 34 THE " LAMMERMUIR " PARTY 35 together with an enlarging circle of sympathizing friends and an encouraging number of candidates, were causes for thanksgiving. But there were also many subjects for prayer. The tidings from China had been somewhat chequered. Some of the workers had been sick ; one, Mrs. Meadows, had died, and another had married outside the Mission. Some of the converts, too, were causing sorrow rather than joy. Then there was the unknown future, with all its possibilities and responsibilities. Since June regular prayer had been made for 24 European evangelists, and an equal number of Chinese helpers, for the eleven unevangelized provinces and Mongolia. Some of these workers had already volunteered, and the way seemed opening up for Mr. Taylor to return with the first large band. Feeling that such a step was no light matter, and that a false move now might bring disgrace and contempt, not only upon God's people, but also upon God's cause, Mr. Taylor had decided to set apart the last week-day of the year for waiting upon God. As ever since that day, December 31 has been kept in the Mission as a day for prayer and fasting, the following extract from Mr. Taylor's letter, in which he inaugurated this custom, will be read with special interest by many. Writing from 30 Coborn Street on December 26, 1865, he said : We have concluded to set apart Saturday next (the 30th) for devotional exercises. We have now arrived at a very momentous stage of our work. Besides the eight of our brethren and sisters who are now in China, or on their way there, between twenty and thirty others are desiring to serve the Lord there in connection with us. How much we need the Lord's guidance both for them and for our- selves ! We have undertaken to work in the interior of China, looking to the Lord for help of all kinds. This we can only do in His strength, and if we are to be much used by Him, we must Hve very near Him. We propose, therefore, to seek the Lord, both in private and unitedly, by prayer and fasting (see Acts xiii. 2) during the earHer part of the day. We shall meet unitedly from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., and from 4 P.M. to 5.30 P.M. And so the year closed with earnest pleadings with God that He would glorify His Name, and the New Year was 36 THE FIRST DECADE entered upon with a fresh assurance that He would certainly do so. Early in the year 1866, the first official organ of the Mission was issued under the title of China Inland Mission Occasional Paper, and on February 6, Mr. Taylor sent the MS. of the first number to the printer. In this issue he stated that he hoped to leave England for China about the middle of May, in company with his wife and four children, and a party of some ten workers. To meet the expenses of so large a party, funds, he said, " to the amount of £1500 to £2000, according to the number going, would be required." And now occurred a significant and encouraging illustra- tion of the power of prayer which was to set God's seal upon the contemplated venture of faith. Just one month and six days had elapsed since the commencement of the year, during which period £170 had been received. It was mani- fest that if so large a party as was anticipated was to sail in May, funds for that purpose must come in much more freely. The fact that from £1500 to £2000 would be needed had been mentioned in the MS. sent to the press, but as there was no reason for delay in taking this need to God, a daily prayer meeting was immediately arranged. Owing to unexpected delays in the engraving of the cover, etc., this first issue of the Occasional Paper was not ready for the publisher until March 12, which happened to be another period of one month and six days. By this time £1274 had been received in answer to prayer, and it therefore became necessary to insert a coloured shp in the forthgoing magazine to let friends know that the sum mentioned as needed had been already supplied. It is instructive to compare the moneys received during these two equal periods, and also the funds received during a similar period after the need had been met : December 30 to February 6 . . . £170 8 3 February 6 to March 12 ... . 1974 511 March 12 to April 18 529 o o It will be seen from these figures that previous to the publication of the paper, and not as a result of it, God had THE " LAMMERMUIR " PARTY 37 supplied the need, and that when the special need had been met the special provision ceased. " Truly," wrote Mr. Hudson Taylor upon this occasion, " there is a Living God, and He is the Hearer and Answerer of prayer." But this was not all. There was to be what Mr. Taylor dehghted to call God's " exceeding abundantly." In April he had been asked to give a lecture on China at Totteridge, a village not far from London, and he had consented on condition that it should be announced upon the bills that there was to be No Collection. Mr. Taylor's reason for this was that he would not have the people who were present free themselves from a sense of responsibility by a gift under the impulse of the moment. The lecture was delivered on May 2, with Mr. Taylor's host as Chairman. At the close of the meeting the Chairman urged Mr. Taylor to withdraw his prohibition to a collection, but without success. Early next morning Mr. Taylor received at the breakfast table a letter from Messrs. Killick Martin & Co., shipping agents, offering the whole of the passenger accommodation of the Lammermuir, and at the close of the meal he was called by his host into his study. Here his kind friend, and Chairman of the night before, handed him a cheque for £500, saying that he had intended giving £5 to the collection, but had been so burdened during the night that he now felt he could not give less than this larger sum. The simultaneous offer of the ship's accommodation and this munificent gift greatly encouraged Mr. Taylor. He went direct to the ship, found it in every way suitable, and paid in the cheque on account. Thus was the decision made and doubly ratified by God. Those were busy days at Coborn Road. For long there had been an extensive correspondence with the friends of the Mission and with many candidates who were offering, while the testing and supervising of the studies of those who had come to London taxed the strength of the limited staff. There had been meetings far and near, preparation of MS. for the printer, in addition to many hours regularly devoted to prayer and thought. And now there was all the prepara- tion of outfits to be hastened on, and all the necessary 38 THE FIRST DECADE arrangements inseparable from the handing over of the Home Department to Mr. W. T. Berger. It was small wonder that Mr. Taylor wrote, five days before he sailed, in a farewell letter printed in the Occasional Paper : The rapid growth of the work has involved a correspondence of such magnitude, that I have been absolutely unable to keep pace with it. I cannot but fear that some kind friends may have been pained by the answers to their letters being delayed; or by my deputing others to write to them for me. This has been a dernier ressort. Often I have tried by sitting up till one, two, three, four o'clock, and occasionally by giving up the whole night to correspondence, to avoid this alternative. Saturday, May 26, dawned at last, a day which had been prevented by many prayers, and one which has since been followed by much thanksgiving. It was a memorable occasion, for then, unknown to all but a small circle of friends, and unsupported by any wealthy constituency at home, what was probably the largest missionary party up to that date set sail for the practically unopened land of China. Under the command of Captain Bell, with a crew of 34 hands, the Lammermiiir set out from the East India Docks upon her long voyage with her missionary party numbering 22 in all. The names of those who sailed are as follows : Mr. and Mrs. Hudson Taylor and their four children, Mr. and Mrs. Nicol, Messrs. Duncan, Jackson, Rudland, Sell, and Williamson, Misses Barnes, Bausum, Blatchley, Bell, Bowyer, Desgraz, Faulding, J. M'Lean, and Rose. Miss Bell was acting as nurse to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor's children, and Miss Bausum was going out to join her mother, Mrs. Lord, at Ningpo. It is easy now, in the light of subsequent histor}^ to under-estimate what such a launching forth must have meant, but to those who sailed it was indeed the following of Abraham's example, who went out " not knowing whither he went." To the majority China was altogether an untried field, and the hfe of faith one of but recent experience ; while to the leader the responsibility of leadership on such a scale was also an untried path. The bond v/hich then bound the party together was one V! r: I ,23 £ 2 ^ 2| t^ P,g5 w p cr. Is So: ■1 1 THE "LAMMERMUIR" PARTY 39 of love and of common trust in God. There were no written agreements required from the workers going forth, only a verbal understanding that they would act under Mr. Taylor's direction ; and between Mr. Taylor and Mr. Berger, who had been increasingly drawn together, there was a mutual understanding that Mr. Taylor was responsible as the Director for all the operations in China, and that Mr. Berger would assume the position of Director at home. Yet from the first all things were ordered so as to be above criticism. The carefully-audited accounts right back to 1864 can still be seen in the Occasional Papers, and Mr. Taylor himself as the founder of the work " studiously refrained," to quote from Mr. Berger's first official letter as Home Director, " from appropriating any of the funds sent for the Mission to his own use, or that of his family, or for his own house- keeping," that he might " cut off occasion from them which desire an occasion " for criticism. With the sailing of the Lammermuir party the houses in Coborn Road had been given up, and Mr. Berger's beautiful home at East Grinstead became the headquarters for the time being in England. None the less, however, the regular Saturday prayer meeting at 4 p.m. was continued in East London in the home of Mrs. Jones, 4 Montague Terrace, Bow Road. The greater part of the voyage was peaceful, while blessing reigned throughout. Of the crew, three of whom were Christians when they started, more than twenty professed conversion during the voyage. The weather was propitious until they entered the China Sea, but there they encountered two terrible typhoons which threatened the total destruction of the vessel. All hands, ladies included, had to assist at the pumps, and it was only a much battered and dismantled vessel that was at last towed up the river into Shanghai on Sunday morning, September 30. The weary travellers fully recognized how much there was for which to be thankful. The lives of all had been spared and they had been brought safely through ; whereas another vessel, which reached Shanghai soon after they did, had lost sixteen souls out of a company of twenty-two. 40 THE FIRST DECADE And yet there was much to try them, for the arrival of such a party, with the intention of venturing inland, was in the eyes of many to violate all precedent and propriety. The censure and the criticism of an unsympathetic foreign community had to be faced, and some of the comments in the Shanghai press even questioned the sanity of such pioneers. But they were not the first to be willing to be fools for Christ's sake. What exercised their minds more than the criticism of men was the practical question of housing so large a party while preparations were made for the journey inland, but " when," wTote Mr. Taylor, " were those who trusted in the Lord ever put to shame ? " Certainly it was not then, for on the evening of their arrival they received a kind invitation from Mr. W. Gamble, missionary-in-charge of the American Presbyterian Mission Press, who kindly stored their luggage and entertained the whole party during their stay at Shanghai. VII SETTLING INLAND Although it was on Sunday, September 30, when the Lammermuir reached Shanghai, it was not until the following morning that the party landed. Mr. Taylor lost no time in preparing for the journey inland, for the same evening he left for Ningpo by a local steamer, taking with him ]\Iiss Bausum, who was going to her mother Mrs. Lord, and Miss Rose, who was to be married to Mr. Meadows. His visit was a brief one, for by the following Wednesday he was back again in Shanghai, where many preparations had to be made for the escort of so large a party to the city of Hangchow, which was to be their first headquarters. He had found the few^ workers who were already in the field successfully settled in tw^o or three new stations, and he now purposed to seek a new settlement at Hangchow, the capital ; and at other cities, if prospered by God. The operations of the Mission were from the first both systematic and methodical. There was no aimless wandering, as has sometimes been suggested, but a definite plan was adopted which sought, not the securing in the shortest of time of the largest possible number of converts for the Mission, but rather the evangelization of the whole Empire as speedily as possible ; it being of secondary importance by whom the converts should be gathered in. As the Apostle Paul sought to establish churches in the great strategical centres of the Roman Empire, so Mr. Taylor recognized the importance of gaining a footing, if practicable, in the provincial capitals, though these were the most difficult places in which to found 41 42 THE FIRST DECADE churches. With the provincial capitals opened, the next step was to open stations in the chief prefectures, and thus downwards to the smaller towns and villages. The capitals, it was recognized, were the key to the smaller cities, since the subordinate officials were generally guided by their superiors, and so, though a larger number of converts might have been gained through work in some country centres, the slower but more far-sighted policy was adopted in preference to that which would have brought quick returns. Without a recognition of this plan of action no just estimate of the Mission's work can be obtained. Hangchow, the capital of Chekiang, was, in accordance with the policy outlined above, selected as the first great centre to be desired. Three pioneer missionaries had already opened work within the city, these being the Rev. G. E. Moule (subsequently Bishop in Mid- China), who settled there with his family in the autumn of 1865 ; Mr. Green of the American Presbyterian Mission, who followed shortly after ; and Mr. Kreyer of the American Baptist Missionary Union, who arrived shortly before the Lammermuir party. On October 20, nearly three weeks after reaching Shanghai, the Lammermuir party started off in houseboats for the city of Hangchow, their departure being cheered by a hearty send-off by the Lammermuir crew, who had subscribed a sum equal to about £30 as a token of their goodwill. The journey from Shanghai to Hangchow, a distance of nearly 200 miles, can now be accomplished by rail in a few hours, but in those days the journey by water was necessarily slow and tedious. Upon this occasion the party were nearly five weeks upon the way through delays occasioned by efforts made, though without success, to locate some of the single brethren at some of the cities passed en route. " I cannot tell you/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " how it grieves me to leave these cities without any witness for Christ. Oh ! dear Mr. Berger it makes one's heart bleed to think of the spiritual needs of this people." And the physical aspect of the country too was painful to behold. As a consequence of the rebellion, cities which had been cities of palaces when Mr. Taylor had left China SEITLING INLAND 43 in i860, were for the greater part in ruins. Of Kashing they wrote : " Of all its former glory we could see only the debris of lordly mansions, once the abode of wealth and pleasure, now the habitations of desolation and silence." Hangchow was reached on Friday, November 27, and the large party were fortunate to enter the city unobserved in the dusk of the evening. Unexpectedly and providen- tially they found that Mr. Kreyer, who had gone to Ningpo to bring his wife back, had left word that his home was at Mr. Taylor's disposal until his return. This kind offer was God's solution of no small difficulty, for their large house- boats had been unable to reach the city, and they had been obliged to tranship into smaUer vessels, in which residence would have been impossible. The friends, as mentioned above, moved in at dusk, and, in answer to much earnest prayer, Mr. Taylor was successful, by the following Tuesday, in renting some large, though dilapidated, premises con- taining some thirty rooms. Those who know the leisurely way in which business is conducted in China, and the difficulty of those early days, will readily appreciate how truly God had undertaken on behalf of His servants. Early on Wednesday morning, before the city was astir, the party moved into the new home, untidy and unprepared as it was, praising God for having thus provided for their need before Mr. Kreyer returned the next day. During the brief stay of the Lammermuir party in Shanghai, another small band of workers had set sail from England. These were Mr. and Mrs. J. McCarthy with three children, and Miss M'Lean. Including these friends, there were now 28 workers in all connected w^ith the Mission. When the year 1866 closed, these workers, with the exception of the party still upon the sea, were already settled in four central stations, with one or two promising out-stations. At Ningpo the work was under the care of Mr. Meadows. On the incomplete Church Roll ^ there were 64 members, 4 of whom had been set apart by the Church for evangelistic work. At Kongpu, a village 1 The records v/ere lost when Mr. Jones removed. 44 THE FIRST DECADE only four miles away, there was an encouraging out-station with 14 members, and Mr. Stott settled here for a short period. At Fenghwa, a hsien city some thirty miles from Ningpo, Mr. and Mrs. Crombie with a Chinese evangelist had, with the help of Mr. Meadows, obtained a settlement. The work here had been carried on for the greater part of the year, though the lack of suitable premises hindered progress. The important prefectural city of Shaohingfu had been visited in May by Mr. Meadows, who had been successful in renting a baker's shop, supposed to be haunted. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Stevenson removed here in September, where they were subsequently joined by Messrs. Rudland and Jackson, who were busily engaged in the study of the language. Before the close of the year a good many people had begun to evince an interest in the Gospel, with a willingness to purchase copies of the Scriptures. At Hangchow a good beginning had also been made. Mr. Taylor reported that they had been able to arrange for a good chapel and a small dispensary out of the premises obtained. There was also room for a school, and for the printing presses — ^for the working of which they had been successful in engaging the services of a Chinese who had learnt printing at the Mission Press in Shanghai. On Sundays the workers were encouraged by an apparently interested audience of from fifty to seventy persons. It will thus be seen that when the year 1866 closed the Mission had four central stations in Chekiang. Of these four stations, three were inland ; the two most remote being four days' journey apart. Thus, in spite of many difficulties, the name China Inland Mission was being early justified. VIII AN ENLARGED COAST The last day of 1866 was devoted to waiting upon God, even until the early hours of the morning, when the New Year was commenced with the prayer of Jabez : Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed and enlarge my coast^ and that Thine hand might be with me and that Thou wouldst keep me from evih that it may not grieve me ! And God granted them that which they requested, for ere the year closed more than half the prefectural cities of Chekiang were to be occupied, one of these being the most southerly in the province, and an entry was also to be gained into Nanking, the capital of the neighbouring province of Kiangsu. But this extension was not to be attained without riots and suffering, sickness and death. There had, however, been no reserve in the prayer and there was no shrinking from trial in the service, and such prayer and unflinching toil God owned and blessed. It is well, as we look back upon the remarkable success which accompanied the labours of a band of workers who had but recently arrived in the field, to note not only the progress made, but the spirit in which that progress was accomplished. Of the physical hardships the workers thought little, and these were by no means imaginary in those days : " There is a deficiency in the wall of my own bedroom six feet by nine^ closed with a sheet, so that the ventilation is decidedly free," wrote Mr. Taylor soon after reaching Hangchow. " But we heed these things very little, and around us are poor dark heathen. Large cities 45 46 THE FIRST DECADE without any missionary ; populous towns without any missionary ; villages without number, all destitute of the means of grace that surround us ; and I do not envy the feelings of those who would forget these or leave them for fear of a little external discomfort." Of course no means were neglected to repair such dilapida- tions when possible, but in travelling and in gladly accepting any foothold in new and anti-foreign cities, the workers looked upon such trials as of small concern. There were heavier trials than these. Writing to Mr. Berger, just a year after the sailing of the Lammermuir, Mr. Taylor wrote : Burdens such as I have never before sustained, responsibilities such as I had not hitherto incurred, and sorrows compared with which all my past ones were light, have been part of my experience. ... I have long felt that our Mission has a baptism to be baptized with. It may be heavier than we can foresee, but if by grace we are kept faithful, in the end all will be well. These words were written shortly after Mr. Sell, one of the Lammermuir party, had died at Ningpo in consequence of an attack of small-pox. But ere three months had passed a sharper sword was to pierce through Mr. Taylor's side, for in August Mr. and Mrs. Taylor's fondly-beloved child Gracie was to be taken from them. In the midst of this great sorrow he v^ote : I know not how to write to you, nor how to refrain. I seem to be writing almost from the inner chamber of the King of Kings — surely this is holy ground. I am striving to write a few lines from the side of a couch on which my darling little Gracie lies dying. . . . Dear Brother, our flesh and heart fail, but God is the strength of our heart and our portion for ever. It was no vain nor unintelligent act, when knowing the land, its people, and climate, I laid my dear wife and the darling children with myself on the altar for this service. And He whom so unworthily, and with much weakness and failure, we are and have been endeavouring to serve in simplicity and godly sincerity — and not without some measure of success— has not left us now. Ebenezer and Jeho7mh-Jireh are still dear words to us. And in quoting the words of Mr. Taylor we are voicing the heart's deepest feelings of many others, for countless graves scattered throughout China to-day — graves of those who have fallen in the fight, and graves of beloved children AN ENLARGED COAST 47 who have been laid upon the self-same altar as the parents — proclaim the fact that the evangelization of China has called many into the fellowship of suffering with Him who was the " Man of Sorrows " on our behalf. It was in this spirit that the task was faced, and those who sowed in tears were privileged to reap in joy. Let us now briefly relate some of the labours of the year. About ten miles distant from Hangchow was situated the hsien city of Siaoshan. Toward the close of 1866 temporary premises had been rented here and occupied for three weeks. These had to be relinquished, and another suitable house was found, for the possession of which, how- ever, a deposit of sixty dollars was required. The rent demanded was not unreasonable, and the city was one of importance, but the state of the funds at tha,t time was such that the wisdom of even this small outlay was questioned. While the subject was being prayed over, an unexpected letter came from Shanghai containing a gift of fifty taels. " We thanked God," wrote Mr. Taylor, " and took courage." The story of this gift is full of interest. It appears that a Singapore Chinese, who had been spiritually helped by Mr. Gamble (who welcomed the Lammermuir party), and had been baptized by Mr. Taylor shortly after, had been much impressed by the way in which these pioneer mission- aries were adapting themselves to Chinese life and surround- ings. He spoke of this to a gentleman, who, as a visitor from Japan, was temporarily residing in Shanghai. This friend became deeply interested, and wrote saying that he could not sufficiently admire the self-renunciation of such noble workers, and that although he could not imitate it, he could appreciate it. It was, he said, to him a small matter as to what denomination the missionaries belonged, and he would be happy to be put down as a subscriber of fifty or one hundred taels a year, and with his letter he enclosed an order for fifty taels, equivalent to about sixty- six dollars. Encouraged and justified by the receipt of this sum, the house at Siaoshan was rented on the threshold of the New Year, and Mr. and Mrs. Nicol with Mr. Williamson 48 THE FIRST DECADE went into residence. Their work, however, had barely begun before the mandarin of the city anived, apparently the worse for liquor, and after handling Mr. Nicol somewhat roughly, demanded the instant withdrawal of the whole party from the city. Their passports were produced, and the official was invited to inspect the premises, but he was implacable and had their evangelist, Tsiu, mercilessly beaten before their eyes. The punishment was severe, six hundred lashes on the bare thighs and fifty on each side of the face. Much as the missionaries sympathized with their faithful helper, they dared not interfere between an official and a Chinese subject, but to prevent further suffering they promised to leave the city the following day. In a few months, however, another house was secured, and before the year closed two or three converts had been baptized. In Hangchow the work was greatly prospered, though even here serious trouble threatened in March through emissaries specially sent by the angered official at Siaoshan, but an early and firm representation to the Governor by the three Missions working in the city providentially checked this in time. All through the year the Mission compound was a busy centre of work. Whenever Mr. Taylor was at home the dispensary was opened, and from 80 to 200 patients were seen daily, while an equal number heard the Gospel preached. For the purpose of a Boarding School the house next door was mortgaged, and although the majority of the workers were but new arrivals, remark- able blessings attended their labours. During the year not less than twenty new converts were baptized, and in July Wang Lae-djun was ordained as Pastor with three others as Deacons. The premises soon proved too small for the grow- ing work, and ere the year closed Mr. Taylor proposed the erection of a large chapel to seat from four to five hundred people. In September Mr. Williamson attempted to gain a settlement in the prefectural city of Huchowfu, living mean- time on a boat. Though Mr. Williamson was compelled, by sickness, to retire, Mr. M'Carthy took his place, and premises were rented in November. Here again serious AN ENLARGED COAST 49 opposition had to be faced which culminated in a riot, when Mr. McCarthy was roughly handled and his two Chinese assistants were most severely beaten. This outrage took place at the very gates of the Yamen and with the knowledge and assistance of the Yamen underlings. Had not Mr. McCarthy been a powerful man and able to carry one of his helpless assistants to the boat, it is probable that this man's life would have been lost. In other centres cities were opened with less difficulty though not without trial. In July Mr. Meadows and Mr. Jackson had journeyed south to the beautifully situated prefectural city of Taichowfu. Here, through the kindness of the Abbot, they were allowed to spend their first night in one of the city temples, though they were robbed by burglars in the morning. Fortunately, though they lost nearly all their possessions, their money was left untouched. " The things I have lost/' wrote Mr. Jackson, " I could not replace for Si 00 and Mr. Meadows for $10. Hov/ our dollars were not taken is a mystery to us all, as my bag stood upon my box, at the side of the ones taken, and Mr. Meadow's money also was close by. In this we see the hand of the Lord clearer than in any event of our lives." In the good providence of God the officials befriended them and houses were freely offered. Within three months Mr. Jackson was able to write and say that the people were flocking by multitudes to the chapel. Late in the autumn Mr. Stott, after having spent eighteen months in the neighbourhood of Ningpo, also reached the city of Taichowfu, whence he and Mr. Jackson proceeded further south to Wenchow, the most southerly prefectural city of the province. Here, in this city of temples, untouched by the Taiping rebels, situated on an arm of the sea and half surrounded by an amphitheatre of mountains, they settled in an inn in November. For three months they could gain no better foothold until at last a house was offered by a man who had almost ruined himself by opium-smoking and gambling. From this, however, Mr. Stott would have been speedily ejected had his weakness not proved his strength. Being a lame man he presented himself to the crowd, proved E 50 THE FIRST DECADE to them that he could not run away, that if they killed him they would only get into trouble, but if they let him stay they would find he would do no harm. And it proved, as he had said in London, when questioned as to the wisdom of his going to China, that " the lame shall take the prey." For over two years Mr. Stott remained on alone, neither seeing the face nor hearing the voice of a fellow-countryman, and not so much as leaving the city for a single night, until in February 1870 he went to Shanghai to meet his bride. While Jackson and Stott had been pressing south to Taichowfu and Wenchow, George Duncan had been pushing north and west along the Grand Canal to the famous city of Soochow, on up to the river port of Chinkiang, and thence up the Yangtze to Nanking, an ancient metropolis of the Empire. This city, the capital of the province of Kiangsu, lately the headquarters of the Taiping rebel Emperor, was reached on September 18. The authorities, although pro- fessedly favourable, sent secret orders to every householder and inn-keeper not to receive the foreigner. The priest in charge of the Drum Tower, situated in the centre of the city, however, allowed him to sleep in the temple on top of the large gate-like structure, and here he passed his nights for a month or more, going by day to preach in the streets and obtain his meals at some public eating-house or teashop. By October 18 he succeeded in renting half a house in a quiet part of the city. These premises consisted of one large room upstairs and one below, and Mr. Duncan's portion was only a strip six feet wide partitioned off from these rooms. Thankful to gain this advantage, he used the upper section for his bedroom and the lower section for a street chapel. As time passed the question of supplies became one of much importance. Mr. Duncan had given Mr. Taylor the name of a local bank to which, he was in- formed, money could be sent, but this bank was not recog- nized in Hangchow, | and every attempt to forward funds proved fruitless. Duncan, however, was not the man to retire, and he held on until all his money had been spent. Then his faithful servant, finding he would not borrow, gave him all he had in his possession, amounting to about five AN ENLARGED COAST 51 dollars. In spite of every economy this was spent and relief had not arrived, and then his colporteur gave him ten dollars. Meanwhile Mr. Taylor had begun to be really concerned as to Duncan's position, and at last despatched Mr. Rudland with a supply of money. When Rudland reached Nanking, having been specially favoured in a quick journey of over 300 miles, he found Duncan well and happy, though the last of these ten dollars had been changed and he had not enough money left to provide for the next day. Encouraged by this token of God's care, Duncan laboured on in Nanking until his return to England. ^ From this brief sketch we have seen how the policy of seeking openings, first in capitals and then in the prefectural cities, had been followed throughout the first whole year since the Lammermuir party arrived, and how remarkably successful the workers had been. Writing home in September, Mr. Taylor had tabulated the situation in Chekiang as follows : Hangchowfu j ^^ occupy with other missionaries. Ningpo j Shaohingfu \ Taichowfu v We are alone in. Huchowfu J Kashingfu Yenchowfu Chuchowfu V As yet unoccupied. Chiichowfu Wenchowfu Kinhwafu has a Mission station but no resident missionary. Thus of the eleven Fu cities and of the eleven departments of which they are the capitals^ nearly one-half — five — are still destitute of the Gospel. I hope, if spared, ere long to see some of them supphed. 1 When the writer of these hnes recently visited Nanking and stood upon the summit of that Drum Tower, where Duncan had first found a resting-place, how changed the situation had become. From that tower could be seen several well-equipped Mission compounds, a Union Hospital, Union Mission University, a Union Bible School, and other centres of aggressive missionary activity. It is well to-day to look back and to remember those who as brave pioneers laid the foundations of present success. D^ THE FIRST DECADE These words were wTitten in September, and we have already seen that since that date Wenchow had been occupied, as well as Nanking in the neighbouring province of Kiangsu. This is a wonderful record for one year. When 1S67 closed, instead of four stations, the Mission had eight stations, the two most remote being twenty-four days' journey apart. There were also new workers on their way from home, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Card well and Mr. and Mrs. Judd, including whom the Mission now had a membership of thirty-four. The prayer of Jabez, with which the year had opened, had indeed been heard, for the Mission had been blessed, had been kept from e\dl though not from trial, and had been given an enlarged border. IX THE YANGCHOW RIOT With the year 1868 the Mission entered upon a new period in its history, a period which was to see its headquarters moved from Chekiang to Kiangsu, and a period in which there was to be great suffering and an undesirable notoriety. In the prox-ince of Chekiang, as we have seen, the work had taken a firm hold. From Hangchow during 1868 a Church membership of about sixty persons was reported, most of whom were trophies of redeeming grace since that station had been opened. At Shaohingfu Mr. Stevenson, whose home was on a busy street, had become weU kno\Mi, and during this new year the first ten converts were baptized. Blessing had also rested upon the work at Ningpo, though the ^^ithdrawal of the more experienced Christians to help elsewhere told against local progress. During the early days of the year the city of Ninghaihsien was opened by Mr. Crombie, which city, however, was worked as one district \vith Fenghwa, each station being worked as the central station in tirrn. Premises were also rented in Kinhwafu, another prefectirre, but had to be relinquished because of opposition. At Taicho^^'fu and Wenchow we have also seen the pioneers established, so that the time seemed opportune for an advance northward into the province of Kiangsu. WTien Mr. Duncan had entered Nanking in September 1867, there were no other missionaries in the province, ^rith the exception of at Shanghai. Shortly afterwards a young Prussian, Mr. Schmidt, an ex-officer in General Gordon's 53 54 THE FIRST DECADE army, who had been converted through Mr. Meadows' ministry, had adopted the Chinese dress and with his wife had commenced missionary work in the large and needy city of Soochow, which city Mr. Duncan had urged the Mission to occupy. In March 1868 Mr. Meadows, accom- panied by Mr. Cordon, also succeeded in renting commodious premises there, including a building capable of seating from 100 to 150 persons for a chapel. A school was opened in June, and Mr. and Mrs. Cordon carried on a successful work, until in 1872 failing health compelled the workers to retire. Though we are somewhat anticipating events, it may here be mentioned that by that time it had become evident that Soochow would be efficiently worked by other Societies, so that station was relinquished in favour of more distant and needy places. On April 10, shortly after Mr. Meadows had secured the premises in Soochow, Mrs. Hudson Taylor with her family. Miss Blatchiey, Miss M'Lean, and Mrs. Cordon left Hangchow for this new centre, Mr. Taylor, who was ill, following a few- days later. After a stay of nearly a month at this station, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and family with Miss Blatchiey, leaving the other workers at Soochow, started forward for the River Yangtze. On the eve of starting Mr. Tajdor wrote : We are leaving this place (Soochow), D.V., to-morrow (May 17) for Nanking, calling at several places on our way. ... I trust there will be no difficulty in our friends remaining in Soochow. The people seem friendly and so far the authorities have taken no notice of us, though fully aware of our presence. . . . Difhculties we must expect, and shall ever meet with, but if on the whole we make progress, and if souls are being brought to Christ, this is what we came for. How serious those difhculties and perplexities were soon to become was mercifully veiled from him then. Towards the end of the month Chinkiang was reached, and Mr. Taylor was immediately impressed with the im- portance of the place as a centre for future developments ; for Chinkiang is situated on the south bank of the Yangtze, just where the southern and northern sections of the Grand Canal enter that great central waterway of China. There were then no missionaries there, though the London THE YANGCHOW RIOT 55 Missionary Society had a small chapel in charge of a Chinese helper in the western suburbs, and Mr. Taylor began to enquire for premises. Without delaying long enough to obtain a settlement, however, he proceeded to Yangchow, a city of some 360,000 inhabitants, located about fifteen miles up the northern branch of the Canal. This famous city, where Marco Polo had once held office as Mandarin, was reached on June i, and after a delay of a week in boats which let in the rain, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and party moved into a comfortable inn inside the city. With his family settled thus temporarily, Mr. Taylor appears to have returned to Chinkiang, where he at length found a house inside the West Gate, which the owners promised to let if a proclamation could be procured from the magistrate. This Mr. Taylor agreed to obtain, expect- ing no difficulty, as the Taotai had given one the previous year to be hung in the L.M.S. chapel already referred to. The deeds of rental were signed on June 24, after nearly a month's negotiations, and possession was promised in about a fortnight. Mr. Taylor at once sent word to Hangchow for Mr. and Mrs. Rudiand to leave that city and come, bringing the printing presses and Chinese printers, and settle at Chinkiang. The Assistant British Consul kindly applied for the proclamation, and the Taotai promised the same. The Hsien magistrate, however, a man who had been removed from Shanghai, on account of his anti-foreign conduct, at the instance of Sir Rutherford Alcock, the British Minister, determined to resist, and the success of this official in worsting the foreigner and his Consul soon became the talk of all the local teashops. Meanwhile at Yangchow Mr. Taylor had been more successful. " After a tedious battle with difficulties^ the narration of which within reasonable limits is impossible; and after fruitless negotiations for perhaps thirty different houses^ we succeeded/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " in renting one on the 17th July, the Prefect having given us a pro- clamation ; and some of my family moved into the house on the 20th." Mr. and Mrs. Rudiand with Miss Desgraz, as advised, left Hangchow only to find that a settlement at Chinkiang was 56 THE FIRST DECADE not as easy as had been expected. They therefore pro- ceeded to Yangchow and joined the friends there. For the first fortnight after setthng in the curiosity of the people, though troublesome, caused no serious anxiety, but when the news of the rebuff given by the official at Chinkiang — a rebuff not only to Mr. Taylor but to the Assistant Consul, who had been promised the proclamation, — reached Yangchow, the idea of ejecting the foreign visitors from their city also readily suggested itself to the scholars. At this juncture Messrs. Duncan and Reid crossed over from Nanking to visit Mr. Taylor, the former of these being on his way to Shanghai to be married. Finding that trouble threatened, there being then a mob of from lOO to 200 people gathered about the doors, and that Mr. Taylor, who had only just recovered from a serious illness, was physically unequal to sitting from morning to night at the door of the Mission premises talking to the people, Mr. Duncan, who was a man of great courage and a fluent speaker of Mandarin, decided to remain and give such assistance as was possible.^ When the riot broke out the following members of the 1 In regard to riots in China the long-standing enmity of the literati of China to all tilings foreign must be remembered as well as the fact that the Chinese people were at that period " in the point of superstition very much where we were in the sixteenth century." Should the literati stir up the passions of the people by playing upon their superstitious fears, few officials had the moral courage as well as the ability to keep the peace for long, for their tenure of office was largely dependent upon the goodwill of the scholarly class. Du Halde teUs of a book dated as early as 1624 which circulated the base and foolish charges of the foreigners kidnapping children, extracting their eyes, heart, and liver, etc., for medicine, and the Roman Catholic practice of extreme unction, and the habit of closing the eyes of the dead, may have given some basis for part of such a belief. In 1862 a book entitled Death-blow to Corrupt Doctrine — a book republished at the time of the Tientsin massacre in 1870 — brought forward similar charges. In 1866 Mr. S. R. Grundy, the Times correspondent in China, called attention to a proclamation extensively circulated in Hunan and the adjacent provinces. Clause VII. of this Proclamation read : " When a (Chinese) member of their religion (Roman Catholic) is on his death-bed, several of his co-religionists come and exclude his relatives while they offer prayers for his salvation. The fact is, while the breath is still in his body they scoop out his eyes and cut out his heart ; which they use in their country in the manufacture of false silver." In the riots of 1891 similar charges coupled with others of a more blasphemous nature were placarded throughout China, which were subse- quently traced to a scholar resident in Changsha, the capital of Hunan. THE YANGCHOW RIOT 57 Mission were in Yangchow : Mr. and Mrs. Taylor with four children, Miss Blatchley, Miss Desgraz, Mr. and Mrs. Rudland, and Messrs. Duncan and Reid. About a fortnight before the storm burst a meeting of the literati was held in the city, and ere long anonymous handbills were posted up through- out the city containing many absurd and foul charges. These handbills were followed by large posters calling the foreigners " Brigands of the religion of Jesus," and stating that they scooped out the eyes of the dying and opened foundling hospitals in order that they might eat the children. A still more vile and irritating placard was freely posted up on Sunday, August i6. The Prefect had already been warned of the impending trouble, but only gave an evasive answer. All possible conciliatory measures were adopted by the missionaries, handbills were circulated promising the opening of the premises for inspection as soon as the work- men had repaired the unfinished walls and removed the scaffolding which would be dangerous to a crowd. On Saturday, August 22, two foreigners came over from Chinkiang to spend a few hours sight-seeing in the city, and almost immediately the city was full of the wildest rumours as to the disappearance of twenty-four children. By 4 P.M. the Mission premises were besieged. Messengers were despatched to the Prefect, but with no effect. The evil passions of the crowd were speedily being let loose, and at last, when the attack upon the premises had become general, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Duncan determined to face the mob and try and make their way personally to the Yamen. The limits of this volume will not allow space for the harrowing and pathetic story of that night and succeeding day to be told in any detail : how Mr. Taylor and Mr. Duncan, after having been badly stoned, reached the Yamen in an exhausted condition to find the terrified gatekeepers closing the gates ; how the doors gave way before the pressure of the mob when the missionaries rushed into the judgment hall crying Kiu mingf Kiu mingf ("Save hfe ! Save Hfe ! "), a cry to which any official is bound to attend at any hour, day or night ; how they were kept waiting 58 THE FIRST DECADE in an agony of suspense for three-quarters of an hour before they saw the Prefect, and then only to be provokingly asked, " What do you really do with the babies ? " ; how this inter- view was followed by another agonizing delay of two hours before they learned that help had been sent, though even then they were told on their way back that all the foreigners left in the house had been killed. Nor can we relate the details of the painful and truly awful experiences of those left in the Mission house : how they feared that the two who had faced the mob had been torn to pieces ; how when the house was fired from below the children and ladies had to be lowered from the upper story, and Mrs. Taylor and Miss Blatchley with their escape cut off had to jump, both to be seriously injured ; and of how Mr. Reid was nearly blinded for life by being struck in the eye with a brick when trying to break Mrs. Taylor's fall. That any of the party escaped to tell the tale was little less than a miracle, especially as on the following day the guard, sent all too late, was withdrawn, and the terrible scenes of fury were enacted over again. Yet in the provi- dence of God the whole party, several of whom were severely wounded and weak from the loss of blood, were enabled on Monday, the anniversary of little Gracie Taylor's death, to journey down to Chinkiang, where they v/ere most kindly treated and cared for. On their way down to Chinkiang they passed the Assistant British Consul and the American Consul on their way up, coming to the rescue. The Consular Authorities proceeded to investigate the situation personally, and reported their findings direct to Mr. W. H. Medhurst, the British Consul at Shanghai, who had full jurisdiction at that time over that district. Mr, Medhurst made prompt demands for repara- tion. Proceeding with an escort to Yangchow he demanded that the Prefect should accompany him to Nanking that the case might be judged before the Viceroy. The Prefect begged to be allowed to go in his own boat and not as a prisoner, and this was agreed to upon his furnishing his written promise not to escape. This he readily gave, yet fled under THE YANGCHOW RIOT 59 cover of darkness. Thereupon Mr. Medhurst proceeded to Nanking with the gunboat Rinaldo as escort. In the course of the negotiations, which promised to terminate satisfactorily, the captain of the gunboat took ill and left for Shanghai. With the withdrawal of the gunboat the aspect of affairs immediately changed, and Mr. Medhurst had to depart diplomatically worsted. This failure led Sir Rutherford Alcock to authorize Consul Medhurst to renew his demands, this time backed by a naval squadron. The Viceroy Tseng Kwo-fan speedily came to terms, and appointed two deputies to proceed to Yangchow and hold an enquiry. A pro- clamation was thereupon issued which secured the rein- statement of the Mission, compensation for damages to property, and moral status in the eyes of the people by stating that " British subjects possess the right to enter the land," and that " Local Authorities everywhere are to extend due protection." When the news of the riot and naval demonstration reached England, there appeared such an anti-missionary article in the Times as to-day would be almost impossible, and Missions were attacked and defended in Parliament.^ As this was the first serious riot in the Mission's history, and the one for which it was most severely criticized, it may not be out of place to enter a little more fully into details than will be possible with other riots. In the first place it should be said that the Mission did 1 " The attack on the Mission, however, was rather the occasion than the cause of his action. There had been many violations of the treaties and much interference with British trade ; and the EngUsh Government had been on the look-out for a convenient opportunity of making a demonstration. It was in the interest, therefore, more of the merchants than of the missionaries that a fleet of seven sliips-of-war presently ap- peared. But of course it suited the anti-missionary public at home to indulge in the usual tirade about ' the Gospel and the Gunboat ' ; and this was done with the omission of no element of offensiveness by the Duke of Somerset in the House of Lords. It v/as in the debate that ensued that Bishop Magee dehvered, on the spur of the moment, his maiden speech in that assembly, which at one bound established his fame as one of the most brilhant debaters of the day. It was a crushing rejoinder to the Duke, and a masterly vindication of the right of an Enghshman to take Bibles to China as much as cotton or opium, and of his right under the treaties to the same protection as the merchant, neither more nor less." (Dr. Eugene Stock in The History of the Church Missionary Society, vol. ii. pp. 591-2.) 6o THE FIRST DECADE not appeal for either compensation or revenge. Mrs. Taylor, writing to a friend at the time, said : In the riot we asked the protection of the Chinese Mandarin. . . . After our lives were safe and we were in shelter^ we asked no restitution, we desired no revenge. I think I may say with truthfulness that we took cheerfully the spoihng of our goods. But a resident at Chinkiang, up to that time a perfect stranger to most of us, and only shghtly acquainted with my dear husband, wrote stirring accounts to the Shanghai papers (without our knowledge), and public feeling demanded that action, prompt and decisive should be taken by our authorities. And this was taken unsolicited by us. Perhaps one secret of our matter being taken up so warmly was that it was looked upon as a climax to a series of provocations which the English had received from the Chinese, and the representatives of our Government were, I believe, not sorry to have an opportunity of, and a good ground for, settling off a number of old counts. With regard to the refusing or returning restitution money. Would it be right ? We did not ask for it ; but when it is claimed for us by those who as our rulers and " God's Ministers " (wittingly or un- wittingly) espouse our cause, ought we to say, " No, we will not take it " ? We may have been mistaken, but we have acted on what seemed to us right principles. Especially have we sought to be kept from the curse of the man " that trusteth in man, that maketh flesh his arm." ... As to the harsh judgings of the world, or the more painful misunderstandings of Christian brethren, I generally feel that the best plan is to go on with our work, and leave God to vindicate our cause. I suggest that it would be unwise to print the fact that Mr. Medhurst and through him Sir Rutherford Alcock took up the matter without application from us. The new Ministry at home censures those out here for the policy which the late Ministry enjoined upon them. It would be ungenerous and ungrateful if we were to render their position more uncomfortable by throwing all the onus, as it were, upon them. We have quoted this excellent letter at some length on a subject of considerable difficulty, as it contains some seed thoughts from which the policy of the Mission has to a large extent grown up. The Mission has never made or counten- anced any demand for compensation for life. It has never claimed compensation for Mission property, though it has sometimes accepted this when offered by the Chinese Government, or been claimed by the British, American, or Continental Government, as the case might be. In later years, however, the Mission has generally declined com- THE YANGCHOW RIOT 6i pensation for property, as, for instance, after the Boxer crisis, when it was deemed better, as far as possible, to spare further expense to the Chinese, who had already suffered severely during the campaign and by the indemnity for injuries to other foreigners. The good effects of this course on that occasion in healing bitterness was very marked. The spirit in which the Yangchow riot was endured cannot be better illustrated than by brief extracts from letters written at the time. Mrs. Taylor, who had suffered so severely, and at a time when she specially needed care and protection, wrote as follows : The faithful and tender love that preserved all our lives and restored us to each other at that terrible time will^ I trust, inspire us with fresh confidence in the future. ... I shall count our physical sufferings light and our mental anxieties, severe though they were, well repaid, if they may work out for the further opening up of the country to us for the spread of our Master's Kingdom. Mr. Taylor, also writing to the friends of the Mission a little more than a fortnight after the riot, said : In our efforts to evangelize Huchowfu and Kinhwafu we were foiled, and now in Yangchow we have met with more serious dangers and loss than we had hitherto experienced. . . . We are not dis- appointed ; we are not daunted. We expected to meet with difficulties, but we counted on God's help and protection ; and so far from being disheartened, we take courage from the goodness of God to us in our extreme peril ; and from the very opposition of Satan, are the more determined to continue the conflict. But we ask and need your sympathy and prayers, for by God's help alone we stand ; and stand we most assuredly shall, for He has said " I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." It is indeed far from improbable that ere the Gospel can permeate the more remote provinces of China, some of us may be called upon to seal our testimony with our blood. But we are en- couraged to hope from God's sustaining grace in our recent trial, that, in such circumstances, as our day so shall our strength be. With this confidence in God the future was faced with a good courage, and on November i8 Mr. Taylor was re- instated in his house at Yangchow by the British Consul and the Taotai from Shanghai, who had come up as the Viceroy's deputy. For some time Yangchow became the home of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor despite the efforts of some 62 THE FIRST DECADE high-placed officials to eject them. The Governor of Chinkiang, however, personally purchased the Mission premises from the anti-foreign landlord — a high military official named Li — and this removed one source of possible trouble. The subsequent history of the men who had been responsible for this terrible riot is full of solemn significance. Some of them lost their lives, while others fell into serious disgrace, until the people of the city recognized the retributive visitation of Heaven in these judgments. "God can yet say to a people," wrote Mr. Taylor, '"Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm,' and not infrequently He does so." Mr. Berger, in an explanatory letter to the Times, April 14, 1869, wrote as follows : I would add that the missionaries are again at Yangchow and in their former house ; and I hope that by kind action they may yet disarm prejudice, gain the esteem of the well-disposed and silence the foolish ; and that the day is not far distant when, through God's blessing, they shall in this very place of their trials, succeed in dis- seminating the knowledge of Him who is the Light of the World and the Life of men. Though it does not belong to this period of our history we cannot refrain, ere we close this chapter, from calling attention to the way in which this hope was realized, and to the wonderful contrast of the events of 1868 and 191 2. Here in this city, the scene of the riot described. General Hsii Pao-san, the Commander of the 2nd Army Corps, after the revolution, gave the hitherto unheard-of opportunity of distributing Christian literature among the troops, deputed his younger brother, the Military Governor of the city, to arrange for the regular preaching of the Gospel to his officers and men, and when the Rev. A. R. Saunders, who had been the leader in this work, subsequently left for furlough, he ordered all the members of his Staff, with a Guard of Honour of 5000 infantry and their officers, to accompany the missionary and his wife to the banks of the Grand Canal, where they embarked for home. The suffer- ings of the noble pioneers, who, with the exception of the children, had by 1912 all passed to their reward, had not been in vain in the Lord. X TWO NEW PROVINCES We have already seen that during the year 1868 four new stations had been opened. These were Ninghai in Chekiang, and Soochow, Chinkiang, and Yangchow in Kiangsu. The strategic importance of these places may not at first sight be obvious to every reader, so it may be said that with Chin- kiang on the Yangtze, some fifty miles east of Nanking, and with Soochow on the Grand Canal, half-way between Chinkiang and Hangchow, there was now a complete chain of stations linking up the capital of Kiangsu, on the great central waterway of China, with Wenchow, the most southerly prefecture in the province of Chekiang. With the opening of Yangchow the Mission had struck out in a new direction, for that city was situated on the northern section of the Grand Canal, which in those days, before the sea-route had become popular, was the highroad from the south to Peking and the northern provinces. After the riot related in the previous chapter, and while the Consular negotiations in regard to this trouble were still proceeding, Mr. Taylor, accompanied by Mr. Williamson, made a long journey north of Yangchow as far as Tsingkiangpu, which is located about thjee miles south of the spot where the Grand Canal crosses the old bed of the Yellow River. With the spirit of the pioneer, Mr. Taylor, reluctant to await in- actively a settlement of the Yangchow troubles, visited during this journey no fewer than four walled cities and twenty-five towns and villages. While, on the one hand, his spirit longed and his heart yearned for the conversion 63 64 THE FIRST DECADE of the people he saw around him, his eyes were ever looking upon the needs of the whole Empire, and in Tsingkiangpu he thought he saw a position of importance for reaching the regions beyond. This important commercial centre might, he thought, become a half-way station to Kaifeng, the capital of Honan, one of the unoccupied provinces, and also a centre through which funds might possibly be trans- mitted to the provinces of Shensi, Shansi, Shantung, and Chihli. Obviously unable to stay, as his presence was necessary for the reoccupation of Yangchow, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Wilhamson returned, but in the next year Mr. Duncan set out from Nanking, and succeeded on July 20, 1869, in renting premises in Tsingkiangpu, the possession of which was peacefully effected. Towards the end of December of the same year Mr. Reid moved there with his valued Chinese assistant, Chu Sien-seng. Soon after the settlement of the Yangchow troubles the time seemed ripe for an attempt to occupy the province of Anhwei, which province had suffered severely during the Taiping rebellion, some thirty of its thirty-nine millions being said to have perished. Extensive emigration, however, had by the close of 1868 considerably increased its population and after many prayers, an effort was made to enter this unoccupied province. As Mr. McCarthy was now able to carry on the work at Ningpo, Mr. Meadows, who had had from six to seven years' experience in China, was set free from that station for the new venture into Anhwei. During the closing days of the year 1868 he in company with Mr. Wilhamson started from Chinkiang for Anking. Such a pioneer undertaking was no light matter, for there was a spirit of serious unrest abroad throughout the country. In addition to the Yangchow riot, there ha^ been anti-foreign outbreaks at Swatow, in Formosa, in Shantung, and in Chekiang, while an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Mr. Johnson, had been murdered near the borders of the very province these workers were now hoping to enter. The city of Anking was reached early in the New Year, TWO NEW PROVINCES 65 1869, and after spending a week, while living on their boat, vainly seeking for a house, they left their Chinese helpers to continue the search for premises, while they travelled on to Kiukiang, the nearest river port, to make arrangements for the forwarding of letters and supplies. After a brief stay at Kiukiang, where they found two missionaries of the American Methodist Episcopal Mission, the only Protestant messengers of the Cross in the province of Kiangsi, they returned to Anking and rejoined their Chinese helpers, being compelled for some time to live in an inn. Many weary negotiations followed, during which their patience was sorely tried by varied forms of opposition, but eventually a house was secured in a central part of the city, a little of£ one of the busy streets, though considerable alterations and additions were necessary before occupation was possible. Meantime, Mrs. Meadows with the children had joined her husband in the inn, and here they resided until, during the summer, they were able to move into the new premises. Much caution had to be exercised in those days to avoid suspicion. No public meetings were held, and all the work done was of a personal and private nature. Matters pro- gressed favourably until the public examinations, which commenced towards the end of September. The district examinations, which came first, passed off without trouble, but during the prefectural examinations there were from fifteen to twenty thousand students congi'egated in the city. On November 2, the crowds began to assemble round the house, and the following day placards appeared containing the old story of nameless barbarities. Without delay Mr. Meadows and Mr. Williamson called upon the Taotai to acquaint him with the situation, but he only made excuses for not seeing them. When retiring from the Yamen they were attacked by a mob of military candidates and literary students, and were obliged to beat a hasty retreat back into the judgment hall. Meanwhile, the Mission premises had been attacked and looted, and Mrs. Meadows, who was alone with her children, had been somewhat roughly handled. A faithful servant, however, had stood by her, and he, after first leading her son to the Yamen, returned and personally 66 THE FIRST DECADE escorted Mrs. Meadows, who was carrying her infant, there also. With the destruction of the premises there seemed no other course for the workers but to retire to Chinkiang, where new Mission premises had been occupied on January i of the same year. During their absence the Viceroy of Nanking dealt efficiently \vith this disturbance, and on February 23, 1870, the workers were formally reinstated by the officials. Thus was Anhwei, the first wholly unoccupied province, entered by the Mission, and for the next fifteen years the C.I.M. was the only Protestant Society at v/ork in this province. During the same year, 1869, the Mission was also privileged to enter another province, namely, Kiangsi. Mr. J. E. Car dwell, for seven years before leaving England, had had the needs of this province laid upon his heart. When he arrived in China, however, he was located in the city of Taichowfu, in Chekiang, where his health speedily failed. Though strongly advised to return to England, he felt he could not do so without attempting something for the province for which he had prayed so long. He therefore proceeded to Kiukiang, which river port he reached in December 1869. Here his health rapidly recovered, and after a time devoted to the necessary study of the language he gave himself to extensive itinerations throughout the province, upwards of a hundred cities and towns being visited, and fifteen thousand portions of the Scriptures being sold within the next two years. In addition to the entry into these two new provinces, Mr. Stevenson was enabled to extend his work as far as Chenghsien, a city 72 miles S.E. of Shaohingfu. Mr. Jackson had also opened up Hwangyen, a city situated some 20 miles south of Taichowfu. At the close of the year, the most remote stations of the Mission were five or six weeks' journey apart from each other, and the aggregate area of the district in which the mission- aries were resident, and through which they were preparing to evangelize by itinerations, was between 150,000 and 200,000 square miles. Such developments were not in- considerable, though the year was, Mr. Taylor said, more TWO NEW PROVINCES 67 characterized by internal growth and development than by fresh aggressive movements. In closing this chapter it may be added that Messrs. Harvey and C. T. Fishe had left England in the good ship Lammermuir on July 14, 1869, while Miss Grace Ciggie (Mrs. Stott) sailed on December 4 of the same year, she being the last member of the Mission to go out in a sailing-ship. XI TROUBLED ON EVERY SIDE Up to the year 1870, the work had been steadily enlarging and extending, in spite of local disturbances. During the New Year, however, the Mission and the missionaries were called upon to pass through a time of deep sorrow and trial both personal and general. Deep and widespread excite- ment shook the very foundations of Chinese society, and those who were living among the people at this time con- fessed that, ..." it was impossible to describe the alarm and consternation of the Chinese when at first they believed that native magicians were be- witching them ; nor their indignation and anger when they were told that these insidious foes were the agents of the foreigners." The Chinese Government also " were puzzled to comprehend the interest which the French Government took in the Missions, and its claim, asserted with so much warmth, to exercise a protectorate over the converts." ^ It was alleged that dishonest Chinese kidnapped children for sale to the Roman Catholic Foundling Hospitals, and in May serious trouble in Nanking was only averted by a public inspection of the Roman Catholic buildings arranged by the Viceroy. In June similar rumours gained credence at Tientsin, and before measures could be adopted to allay the popular excitement, the mob arose, and . . . destroyed the French Missionary buildings, and murdered ten Sisters of Mercy, the French Consul and several other Frenchmen, besides a party of Russians supposed to be French. . . . The news 1 Cambridge Modern History, vol. xi. p. 813. 68 TROUBLED ON EVERY SIDE 69 (of this atrocity) reached Europe six days after the declaration of war between France and Prussia, and the events which followed rendered it impossible for the French Government to insist on adequate reparation.^ In the eyes of the Chinese the humiliation of France was looked upon as Heaven's incontestable proof that the charges made against the Roman Catholics were true, and this fact immeasurably added to the difficulty of all missionary operations. Owing to the disturbed state of the country, all ladies and children had to be removed from the stations at Nanking and Yangchow. At Nanking even the Viceroy was assas- sinated, and Mr. Taylor arranged for a boat to be in readiness should the workers need at any time to mthdraw. At Shanghai the foreign residents, with ships of war and some five hundred volunteers to protect them, scarcely slept comfortably for fear of an attack. Yet in the mercy and loving kindness of God, all the missionaries in the interior were preserved from injury, though far from human help. What was it, then, that restrained the forces of disorder in these inland stations ? " The mighty hand of God/' wrote Mr. Taylor^ " in answer to united constant prayer offered in the all-prevaiHng Name of Jesus. And the same power kept us satisfied with Jesus, with His presence, His love, His providences," Though it is true that Mr. and Mrs. Meadows had tempo- rarily to retire from Anking, no station had to be given up, but, on the contrary, five new out-stations were added, and the Chinese Christians were taught in a new way to lean upon the living God alone. Amid all these outward perils and alarms, the workers were passing through the deepest waters of affliction. Early in the year it became evident that all of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor's children, with the exception of the youngest, could not face another summer, and arrangements were made for their early return to England with Miss Blatchley, as Mrs. Taylor could not be persuaded to leave her husband. On February 4, however, ere their departure, one of the children, little ^ Cambridge Modern History, vol. xi. p. 813. 70 THE FIRST DECADE Samuel, suddenly sickened and died, and the following month, on March 23, the stricken parents parted with the other three, never again to meet as a united family. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor returned to Chinkiang, after seeing their loved ones. sail, to find Mrs. Judd at the point of death. After many anxious days and weary nights of watching, this hfe was spared. In June Mr. and Mrs. Rudland were bereaved of a dear child, and a brief note written by Mrs. Taylor to Mrs. Rudland upon this occasion — one of the last penned by her to whom the Mission owed so much — may be quoted here both as a revelation of her character and as a comfort possibly to many others who have suffered, or may suffer, a like sorrow. July 15, 1870. My dear Mary — I cannot write much ; but I send a line to tell you that our hearts grieve and our eyes weep with you. May you be able to realise your precious little one as safely nestling in Jesu's own arms, for that more than anything will help to assuage the bitterness of the painful separation. " Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." They will yet be restored to us ; they will be ours again — ours for ever. And then we shall be able to understand why they were separated from us here ; then, shall we be able to say from the very depths of our hearts, " Our Jesus has done all things well." Meanwhile, let us believe this. By His grace we will not doubt either His wisdom or His love. Let us chng to Him when His waves and His billows go over us. Accept much love and sympathy from us to you both, and believe me — Yours very affectionately, Maria J. Taylor. On the night of July 5, Mrs. Taylor herself was seized with cholera, on the 7th, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Noel. On the 20th, this precious little one breathed his last, and three days later Mrs. Taylor also slept in Jesus. Mr. Taylor, who had been greatly blessed in soul some months before, was wonderfully upheld in this time of deep affliction. Concerning this time of sorrow he wrote : I scarcely knew whether she or I was the more blessed, so real, so constant, so satisfying was His presence, so deep my delight in the consciousness that His Will was being done, and that that Will, which was utterly crushing me, was good, was wise, was best. For some months after this Mr. Taylor was seriously TROUBLED ON EVERY SIDE 71 prostrated through physical weakness and exhaustion, and on December i, 1870, he sent out a printed circular letter to all members of the Mission stating that, . . . Mr. C. T.Fishe has kindly consented to act, D. v., as Secretary to the Mission (in China) for the present, so as to lighten the labour which has hitherto devolved upon me, and which has now increased through the departure of my beloved wife. So seriously was Mr. Taylor's health impaired that he was uncertain whether his own life would be spared, and in some of his letters written during the spring of the following year, he gave instructions in regard to his children's future, should he be taken from them. Mrs. Crombie's health also gave way, and Mr. Duncan was laid low with inflammation of the lungs, which for a time threatened to be fatal. " Thus/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " wave after wave of trial rolled over us ; but at the end of the year some of us were constrained to confess that we had learned more of the loving kindness of the Lord than in any previous year of our Hves." This year, so memorable for its trials and alarms, was not wholly without some visible signs of progress. Mr. Stevenson, who had transferred the care of Siaoshan to Mr. McCarthy, was enabled to open the station at Sinchanghsien, a city situated some fifty miles south of Shaohingfu. Wang Lae- djun, the Chinese pastor of Hangchow, at his own expense opened a chapel at Lihdzo near Ningpo. Mr. McCarthy's colporteurs and evangelists commenced work in several new centres, one of these being the district city of Lanchi, about 136 miles S.W. of Hangchow. Mr. Williamson, who had been transferred to Chekiang, was appointed pastor of Fenghwa upon Mr. and Mrs. Crombie's leaving for furlough, and he opened an out-station in the district of Ong-zih, while the church at Ong-zih opened another at Dzao-tseng, three miles farther west. Nor must we overlook the various evangelical tours made during this year. After the trouble in Nanking had some- what subsided, Mr. Harvey made a tour north of the river, visiting the city of Luho and a number of towns and hamlets. Mr. McCarthy safely prosecuted a journey through the 72 THE FIRST DECADE district N.E. of Hangchow ; Mr. E. Fishe, in company with Wang Lae-djun, set out from Taichowfu and visited Sienkii ; while Mr. Rudland, who in August had volunteered to take charge of the work in Taichowfu — ^in which city he continued to labour till his death in 1912 — undertook a journey southward as far as Taiping. XII FAINT YET PURSUING Though the storms of 1870 had in large measure spent themselves, the year 1871, upon the brief review of which we now enter, had sufficient trials of its own. The anxiety and unrest which followed the Tientsin massacre had not wholly passed away in China ; and the Franco-Prussian war had unfavourable effects upon the income of the Mission at home. When to these anxieties were added the precarious state of Mr. Taylor's health, the faihng strength of Mr. Berger, and threatened restrictions to missionary liberty, it will be recognized that the Mission was indeed much cast upon God. A year before the Tientsin massacre, the Chinese Govern- ment had proposed regulations for the control of Missions, and for the placing of missionaries under Chinese jurisdiction. Early in 1871 they again returned to this subject and sub- mitted definite proposals. In the Circular of the Chinese Government, which dealt with this subject, there were eight Articles. Article No. i suggested the abolition of orphanages, which would have injuriously affected the Mission's boarding-schools, though, at that time, Protestant Missions had no orphanages. Article 2 read : " Women ought no longer to enter the Churches ; nor should Sisters of Charity live in China to teach rehgion." Though Protestant Missions had no Sisters of Charity, this clause would in all probability have prohibited women missionaries in general. Article 3 prohibited missionaries taking the advantage of extra- territoriahty. Article 7 demanded that '' when the missionaries visit a great 73 74 THE FIRST DECADE Mandarin, they must observe the same ceremonies as those exacted from the literates." These ceremonies would often include kneeling on both knees, prostration on the ground, and knocking the forehead on the floor. The nature of this document showed that it was obviously aimed at Roman Catholic Missions, but it in- evitably hampered and endangered Protestant Missions also. Ultimately, to quote Sir Ernest Satow, . . . the Protestant Powers replied that the abuses complained of did not concern them ; while the French Government rejected the whole of the proposals as inadmissible.^ It was naturally an anxious time for the Mission while these official negotiations were proceeding. On the one hand, the staff of workers was barely able to hold the stations already opened ; and on the other, these proposals threatened to make the missionaries' position practically untenable. The very growth and expansion of the work was taxing to the utmost the limited number of workers, for as all the stations north of Hangchow were compara- tively new, there were no Chinese Christians of long standing who could be relied upon as leaders ; and none could be transferred as helpers from Chekiang on account of the difference of language. For this cause the work at Tsing- kiangpu suffered not a little, as Mr. Reid had had to leave on account of health. At Yangchow there was a narrow escape from another riot, stirred up by a military mandarin, named Ch'un, who had been the leader in the Tientsin massacre as well as in the previous Yangchow riot. This man, in conjunction with another high ofiicial named Li, who was landlord of the Mission premises, did his best to foment another outbreak. In this, in God's providence, they were unsuccessful, for, as already mentioned, the Governor of Chinkiang personally purchased the property to remove any ground of complaint, and the people of Yangchow had themselves become more friendly. This change in the attitude of the inhabitants of Yangchow 1 Cambridge Modern History, vol. xi. p. 814. FAINT YET PURSUING 75 showed how much their esteem and confidence had been gained since 1868. The Yangchow troubles, however, were not wholly at an end, for later in the year Mr. Berger received a despatch from Lord Granville, urging the Mission to abandon the city. In reply a full statement was sent to him, stating the arrange- ments made for the carrying on of the work in that centre. This was evidently considered satisfactory, for nothing further was heard on the subject. About this time the prospective return of Mr. and Mrs. Meadows to England for furlough, and other circumstances, made necessary the rearrangement of all the work in the northern Stations. Mr. Duncan undertook to devote his time between Nanking and Anking, so that the needy province of Anhwei might not be wholly deprived of a Gospel messenger. Mr. C. T. Fishe agreed to reside at Yangchow and to superintend Tsingkiangpu from that centre ; while Mr. and Mrs. Judd took charge of the work at Chinkiang. The story of the Girls' School, commenced this year at this last-mentioned place, deserves special mention. During the troublous times of 1870, it had been necessary for the lady workers to retire from the more exposed positions to Chinkiang. And the missionary proposals of the Chinese Government, already mentioned, urged the removal of lady workers from China altogether. For these and other reasons Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had thought it well to try the effect of a separate work for women conducted exclusively by women, and Chinkiang seemed a favourable spot for such an experiment. As this subject had been one of the last about which Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had consulted and prayed together, it was naturally a sacred project. " At this juncture/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " my precious wife was removed and I was left alone. I was no longer able to unite with her in prayer, as for the last twelve and a half years I had done, and to plead the promise that whatsoever two should agree to ask on earth should be done for them of our Father who is in Heaven. I felt the privation much ; and had to ask Him who was comforting me with His own sweet presence, who often said to me, — ' My presence shall 76 THE FIRST DECADE go with thee^ and I will give thee rest ' — ^to be my Partner in prayer too as well as my High Priestly Intercessor. And I felt that my faith needed strengthenings and therefore asked God to give me funds to build suitable premises ; carefully avoiding all mention of my desire either to my home correspondents, or for the time being, to my fellow- workers in China, that the response might be the more manifestly His." It was not long after this ere Mr. Taylor received from a relative of his own a gift of £ioo for his private use, this being the largest private gift he had up to that time received. He at once commenced to look out for a suitable site, and in due course land was purchased in a good position not far from the river, and facing the hills. The deeds were duly signed and registered. Then came another gift of £ioo from another friend, also for his private use, and the building was proceeded with. By means of these two gifts mentioned and a number of smaller contributions, which came in as they had never done before and which only ceased when there was sufficient, the buildings were erected, and before Mr. Taylor left China in the autumn, he had the joy of seeing Miss Desgraz and Miss Bowyer comfortably settled in and their work fairly commenced. By this time, as we have seen, Mr. Cardwell in Kiangsi felt sufficiently advanced in the language to attempt some extensive journeys. In May he started from Kiukiang by boat, travelling across the Lake selling books and preaching at such centres as Takutang, Nankangfu, and proceeding on to the capital, thence to Fuchow, and back home via Jaochow. During this journey, which occupied thirty days, he visited five walled cities, six towns, and fourteen villages, and sold some two or three thousand Scriptures and other books. Though stoned at some places he was mercifully protected from harm. In north Kiangsu, Mr. Harvey made two long journeys, the first to and around Tsingkiangpu, and the second almost to the borders of the province of Shantung, in order to find, if possible, at Mr. Taylor's request, some place suitable for a seaside resort. The locality, however, was found unsuitable for this purpose. Mr. Duncan, either alone or accompanied by Mr. Harvey, itinerated in Anhwei, both north and south FAINT YET PURSUING 77 of the Yangtze, and together they finally travelled from Wuhu through the southern portion of the province, visiting Ningkwofu and Hweichow, and concluding their journey at Hangchow in Chekiang. Mr. Reid also engaged in itineration work in the vicinity of the great Lake ; Mr. McCarthy's helpers worked the country around Hangchow, and Mr. Jackson from Wenchow. On all these journeys the Scriptures were extensively scattered and the Gospel freely preached. While the work was thus progressing in China the needs of the work in England made it desirable for Mr. Taylor to visit the homeland, and soon health made such a change equally essential. Local claims in China, however, and the fact that Mr. Taylor was the only medical man in the Mission, effectually prevented him leaving the field until August, when, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Meadows and Miss Faulding, who had been detained in Shanghai through sickness and other causes, he started once more for England, which was safely reached on September 26. Of the problems which confronted him on reaching the home country once again, we must defer writing until the next chapter. This brief record of 1871 may, however, be closed by summarizing Mr. Hudson Taylor's long letter to the friends of the Mission, addressed from 6 Pyrland Road, at the close of the year. In his review of the preceding six or seven years Mr. Taylor first calls to mind the Mission's journeying mercies. In all forty-seven persons, including children, had sailed from England to China by the Cape route ; thirteen had returned via the Suez Canal, and in these and all the other journeyings in China there had been no loss of fife or permanent injury to old or young. In the matter of health, two of the adults and two of the children, referred to above, had been gathered Home, as well as several little ones born in China. Bearing in mind that the work was new and involved a great ex- penditure of energy and strength, it was felt that here there was much cause for thanksgiving. In China not a few of the workers had mastered the language sufficiently well to preach freely and intelligently. 78 THE FIRST DECADE and when Mr. Taylor had left the field there had been twenty- five adults with eighteen children residing in ten different stations. God had given these workers open doors, there being thirteen leading stations in which missionaries were or had been residing, these stations being, roughly speaking, on an average a hundred English miles apart. In addition to the foreign workers the Mission had forty -five Chinese helpers, some of whom were labouring in out-stations a hundred miles distant from the central station ; and, lastly, the Lord had not left or failed His servants m any time of danger, trial, perplexity or bereavement. In brief, all things necessary, whether spiritual or temporal, had been supplied. " Hungry and thirsty/' wrote Mr. Taylor^ " our souls have some- times almost fainted within us, and weary, oh ! so weary, we have felt. But when Jesus has spoken to our hearts His invitation — ' If any man thirst let him com.e unto Me and drink/ — when He has enabled us to ask Him for and then given us, His ' living water,' — He has made us so unspeakably happy in His presence, and has given us such rest, joy and strength in Himself, as no words can express, and as some of us never expected to realise down here. The love of Jesus what it is. None but His loved ones know ! " Did time and space admit of it, we might enlarge on this theme indefinitely, for who can exhaust it — the love of Jesus ? — who can utter all His praise ? " GuoiTP I. 1. W. Thomas Berger. 2. Mrs. Hudson Taylor (nee Dyer). 3. Theodore Howard. 4. James J. Meadows. r>. J. Hudson Taylor. 6. John W. Stevenson. 7. Emily Blatchley. 8. Benjamin Broomhall. 9. Mrs. B. BR00^[HALL. Biographical details can he ascertained by use of Index, i^. 37?. Between pp. 78-79. 1. George Stott. 4. William Cooper. 7. W, D. RUDLAND. Group II. a. w. douthwaite. D. E. HosTE. W. L. Elliston. 3. R. H. A. SCHOFIELD. 6. W. W. Cassels. 9. Charles T. Fishe. Biographical details can be ascertained hy use of Index, p. 375. Between pp. 78-79. XIII THE HOME DEPARTMENT When Mr. Taylor reached England, after an absence of five and a half years in China, he was immediately confronted with the serious problems of the Home Department. For a year or two Mr. Berger's health had been failing, but the crisis in China had prevented Mr. Taylor returning sooner^ and now that he had come, he was himself much needing rest and refreshment. But the claims of the work had to be faced, and so we find Mr. Taylor, shortly after his marriage to Miss Faulding on November 28, writing from 6 Pyrland Road, as follows : Many of you are aware that the labours of the home department, in which Mr. Berger has been so kindly engaged, have been onerous. While his sympathy with the work is undiminished, his strength is not equal to the continuous and ever increasing strain. How best to. afford him relief demands our grave consideration. This important subject now occupied a large place in Mr. Taylor's thoughts and prayers, for the issues involved were by no means small. Mr. Berger had been the nursing father and Mrs. Berger the nursing mother of the Mission from its infancy ; in fact their sympathy and help dated back to the beginning of Mr. Taylor's own career in China. Mr. and Mrs. Berger had ever acted together, being moved by an interest fully shared by both. What these beloved friends did for the work in its early and critical years can never be adequately told. In their beautiful home at East Giinstead the missionaries had been welcomed and enter- tained with a warmth of love and kindness? never to be 79 8o THE FIRST DECADE forgotten, and while giving unreservedly of their time and wealth for the furtherance of the work, Mr. Berger had by his able and devoted administration at home main- tained and developed the deepest interest of the friends of the Mission. If any one would know how faithfully and lovingly this work was done, they must refer to the Occasional Papers, in which magazine, for a period extend- ing from May 1866 to March 1872, he had by his model letters and reports given publicity to the progress of the work in China. " We could wish," wrote one who was no mean judge of literary matters, " for no better memorial of Mr. Berger than those twenty-eight letters printed just as they are." The following extract from one dated May 1869, will show the spirit in which this correspondence and editorial work was conducted : We are fuller of hope and expectation than ever. In so saving, I trust I am carrying along with me the friends and supporters of this Mission ; for if one object is more prominent than another in my mind^ in relation to you^ dear friends, it is so to bring before you, from time to time, not the Mission in the abstract merely, but every incident of importance and interest in relation to the missionaries — ^their sorrows and joys, their encouragements and discouragements — that you may individually reahze a hving interest in them, and be constrained to labour in prayer to God for His blessing to rest continually upon them and their work. Then will you become one with them in sowing the seed of the kingdom, and in due time share with them the certain harvest.^ The loss of such a Home Director, who had for so many years been united in heart and soul with Mr. Taylor — for his friendship dated back nearly twenty years — was a serious matter, as well as a personal sorrow. Fortunately, Mr. Berger was enabled to hold on until Mr. Taylor's health was somewhat restored, and then, on March 19, 1872, he penned his last letter as Home Director of the Mission. 1 Dr. Henry Venn, the Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, said in regard to the preparation of the Annual Report : "I feel it to be a high privilege, as well as responsibility, thus to stand between the Church abroad and the Church at home, and bring forward a report of the Lord's work." His biographer adds : " He often said that he considered the preparation of an honest and faithful report as one of the most solemn duties committed to him " {Life of Henry Venn, p. 97). THE HOME DEPARTMENT 8i " It is difficult/' he wrote, " to describe the feeHngs with which I commence this letter : were it compatible with duty I would defer writing indefinitely ; but this may not be. You will gather from the notice on the face of this number that the management of the home department of this Mission is about to pass into other hands. Failing strength on the part of myself and dear wife, combined with increasing claims, unmistakably indicate the necessity of this step. My sym- pathies for the work are as warm as ever ; and we fain hope that our future efforts on China's behalf, though they should be of a less active nature, may not prove the less serviceable." Upon the same day Mr. Taylor wrote for the same issue of Occasional Papers : In the first number of the Occasional Papers published on March 12, 1866, I was permitted by Mr. Berger to request that as far as possible letters and communications should, after April 30, be addressed to him, he having kindly agreed to carry on the home department of the work after our leaving England. Nearly six years have since elapsed, during the whole of which time he has continued to carry on this part of the work. The labour this service has involved has been very great, and its value to the Mission beyond estimation. Our fellowship together has been, too, a source of unmixed and uninterrupted joy ; and you will judge of the feeling of regret with which we have, in the past two years, seen unmistakable evidence that the same kind and measure of co-operation was becoming incompatible with Mr. Berger's failing health and strength. . . . With the promised assistance of one or two kind friends, I hope to be able to carry on the home work myself for a few months, until more permanent arrangements can be made. In September Messrs. R. H. Hill and Henry Soltau under- took the posts of Honorary Secretaries to the Mission, a Council of Management of the Home Department was appointed, and a number of gentlemen in different parts of the country agreed to act as Referees. The names of those who belonged to this first Home Council were — Messrs. Theodore Howard, John Challice, William Hall, George Soltau and Joseph Weatherley ; and among those who agreed to act as Referees we may perhaps mention Dr. Barnardo, Robert Chapman, Dr. Grattan Guinness, George Miiller, Rev. William Pennefather and Lord Radstock. The Council met for the first time on Friday, October 4, 1872, when, after the meeting had been constituted, the G 82 THE FIRST DECADE accounts and affairs of the Home Department were handed over to the Council and Secretaries. They met again the following day, and on the following Tuesday, October 8, so as to learn as fully as possible the mind of Mr. Taylor in regard to the conduct of the work before he sailed, for on Wednesday, October 9, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, accompanied by Miss Turner, bade farewell to their friends at Charing Cross — leaving behind their four children under the care of Miss Blatchley — and set forth once again, traveUing by the French Mail, via Marseilles, for China. At a time when so many are discussing the subject of the missionary motive, it may not be inopportune to quote a few lines from Mr. Taylor's farewell letter, written on board the M.M. steamship Tigre. " There is one part of the Home work/' he wrote, ** so momentous in its bearings as to call for special remark — that relating to the selection and training of candidates. Suitable men. fitted for and called to the work, are the great requirements of all missionary operations. There are many others, but none so indispensable as this." After some detailed reference to the difficulties which have to be encountered in the field, he proceeds : One thing, and one only, will carry men through all, and make and keep them successful : the love of Christ constraining and sustaining is the only adequate power. Not our love to Christ ; nor perhaps even Christ's love to us personally ; rather His love to poor ruined sinners in us. Many waters will not quench that love, nor the floods drown it. That love will seek the wandering sheep until they are found ; and if when found they are but wayward, wandering sheep still, will yet love and care for them. Oh, beloved friends, pray that this love may be in us, abiding in us, dwelling richly in us all who are already in the field, and in those who join us. But this love will not be put into any one by a journey to China ; if it be not there before, the change from a more to a less favourable sphere of labour is not likely to produce or develop it. Our aim, therefore, must be to ascertain as far as possible whether it exists, and is combined with the needful grace, ability, perseverance and tact, and is operative here in England in those who desire to go out to China. After entering into other details concerning the work, he again asks prayer for the true missionary spirit : THE HOME DEPARTMENT 83 " It is comparatively easy," he wrote, " to take a low place when others are ready to exalt you, or to appreciate the spirit which leads to it. But when those you feel to be far beneath you — in mind, in civilization, in almost everything— treat you as all but savages, call you barbarians, foreign devils, etc., and try to provoke you in many ways, imputing the vilest and basest of motives to your most self- denying and persevering efforts for their good ; and when, too, you know that you only need to take the upper hand, to claim to be and act as foreigners— to make them too much afraid to express what they may think or feel, there is a great temptation to do so. None who have not been placed in these circumstances know how much we need your prayers and God's help to glorify Him and walk consistently in Him." Though conditions may have greatly changed in China since these words were penned, may we not add that only so long as such a spirit continues to animate the members of the Mission, need there be no fear that God's blessing in things temporal and spiritual will be withheld. To show how God did bless and supply the financial needs of the work during the years when Mr. Berger held the ropes at home, the following extracts from his letters are given. Writing on February 15, 1868, he said : Hitherto we have lacked nothing for carrying on this Mission, the Lord having sent in all needed supplies. To Him and His people we tender our warmest thanks. The gift of an anonymous donor came so opportunely, that I notice it for his or her joy, and that of our readers. On January i, 1868, our funds were getting low, and we were led to ask God to remember our need. This was at one p.m. ; at four the same afternoon £100 reached us anonymously, refreshing and encouraging us — oh ! so deeply. By the 4th, £395 had come in. " All things are possible to him that believeth." On August 29 of the same year, he wrote again : The number of labourers already in the field connected with this Mission, as you will have seen from the last Paper, No. 13, is now considerable. The amount required to supply their need, and that of the home department, will probably not be less than £100 per week, or £5200 for the current year. And in the event of more labourers going forth or being added in China, the amount will augment accord- ingly. The questions naturally arise — Shall I continue sending out missionaries if in all respects suitable ? Will the needed funds be supplied ? and. Shall I be overpowering dear Mr. Taylor ? Then 84 THE FIRST DECADE China's four hundred millions, lying in moral darkness and death, rise up before me, and seem to cry with a loud voice — " Come over and help us ! " And I feel I must roll the burden upon Him who alone is able to bear it. I would now ask you, my dear friends, to share this responsibility and service with me, by giving yourselves to prayer, and seeking in every way in your power to make known the deep need of this poor people, so that labourers may be thrust out into this vast field, connected with our Mission, or with others, as it may please our Heavenly Father. Will you also seek from God that wisdom and grace may be abundantly supplied to those in the field, and to ourselves at home, so that we all may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. My present mind is to wait quietly upon Him, believing that He will guide and provide, for it is His work ; and if He should see fit to send out no more through our instrumentality, we shall, I trust, be content. By God's help, I hope never to go into debt, and only to enlarge the work as He may put it into the hearts of His people to sympathise and send in the needful suppHes from time to time. Towards the end of last month, the balance in my hands was reduced to about £97. I greatly desired to send £300 to Mr. Taylor on the Mission account, fearing he might be in need ; whereupon we made our prayer unto God, were kept calm and enabled to believe that He would help us in due time. On August i, over £220 was sent in ; on the 13th over £500, and in all from the ist to the 24th, over £950, as though our Heavenly Father would say to us : " If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." We were not seeking our own, but His glory ; and hence we were not made ashamed. I mention these facts that you may joy with us, even as you so lovingly share our burdens. Again on May 26, 1869, the third anniversary of the sailing of the Lammermuir party, he wTote : Once or twice in the past year, the amount in my hands has been as low as £20 ; yet, to the praise of God's grace, I may say I have never required to send money to China without being able to do so, and even the amount which I desired. Thus tenderly is He teaching us to put our trust in Him. The last extract that space will permit is from a letter dated March 5, 1870. It is as follows : During part of last year the funds were getting very low, and we were led to spread the matter again and again before our Heavenly Father, who made all grace abound towards us, so that in the month THE HOME DEPARTMENT 85 of January we received fully £1000, consisting of donations, interest, and proceeds of sale of books. To Him be the praise. No words need be added to emphasise what the loss of such a Home Director meant to Mr. Hudson Taylor and to the Mission.^ 1 The story of the Home Department in Great Britain is continued in Chap. XVIII. p. 116. XIV WAXING STRONG IN FAITH Leaving the Home Department in the charge of the newly formed London Council and his children in the loving care of Miss Blatchley, who at No. 6 Pyrland Road also had the post of nnofhcial Secretary to the Mission, Mr. Taylor set forth once again, as already mentioned, to China. His absence from England this time was to be almost exactly two years, extending from October 9, 1872 to October 14, 1874. In this chapter we purpose, in briefest fashion, to outline this period when the work was beset on every side with humanly insurmountable difficulties. Sickness, physi- cal injury, death, lack of interest at home, and straitness of funds for long periods together hampered the Mission ; yet, in face of all, God's servants waxed strong in faith, entered another province, and planned what seemed im- possible advance. Let us first take a rapid glance at each of the more important stations, and then learn something of the trials and the hopes which exercised the hearts of the little band of workers on the field. Starting from the most southerly station in Chekiang, we find Mr. and Mrs. Stott and Mr. and Mrs. Jackson re- joicing over a steadily growing Church. Here in Wenchow, where in the early days Mr. Stott confessed that he was seldom out of trouble, there was a little company of fourteen communicants — the nucleus of what was to become one of the most flourishing Churches in the Mission. Choosing one Sunday as an example, we find on May 4, 1873, a congrega- tion of some 300 people Kstening attentively, for over an 86 WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 87 hour, to a preacher who had, but a Uttle while before, been one of the least promising of scholars. " I could not describe/' wrote Mr. Stott^ " the thrilling pleasure I felt as I sat on the platform beside him while he preached. I saw the picture of a ragged blank-faced boy with straw sandals^ and compared it with the open, intelligent face beside me , and as I listened to the tones of his soft, musical, but yet manly voice, setting forth Jesus Christ and salvation through Him . . . , it was conclusive evidence to me of the truth and power of God's Word." Travelling north to the next central station, we find the work at Taichowfu branching out, until within this period Mr. Rudland had no fewer than five out-stations to look after, the most important of which were Hwangyen, Taiping, and Sienkii. It is easy in telling the story of the work to forget the workmen who so quietly endured hardship and anxiety that the work might be accomplished. Let us then, for a moment, glance into that missionary home at Taichowfu, andwhat do wesee ? There is sickness there, nothing less than the dreaded small-pox, and missionary and wife and children are all stricken together, and no doctor nearer than Mr. Taylor who was then in Ningpo. Mr. Taylor had only just returned, travelling through a snowstorm, from sickness elsewhere, but he sets off at once, taking long stages, to reach the needy station quicldy. And it is not long after this ere we find him travelling again, this time for about 500 miles, from Wuchang to Nanking, to attend Miss Bowyer (Mrs. Bailer), who was down with the same disease. The mere recital of his journeys, as servant of all and sole physician to the Mission in these days, would make no inconsiderable record of labour. North of Taichowfu we come to Fenghwa and Ninghai, where Mr. and Mrs. Crombie had resumed their work after furlough. Six years earher there had been only one or two converts, but now the workers were rejoiced with a company of fifty-six communicants. In the stations of north Chekiang considerable changes had been made in order that the work in Anhwei should not be entirely neglected. George Duncan, the noble pioneer of Kiangsu, the first Protestant missionary to settle in 88 THE FIRST DECADE Nanking, who had also extensively travelled in Anhwei and endeavoured to hold the fort at Anking, when Mr. Meadows went home on furlough, had been compelled to leave China. His vessel on its homeward journey had passed near Suez that on which Mr. Taylor was travelling out. Though Duncan had hoped for a speedy return to China, that was not to be, for on February 23, 1873, shortly after reaching England, he was called to his heavenly reward. Harvey had also gone home to take a medical course, and Reid had been compelled to retire through ill-health, so that there was nothing for it but to make a call upon the Chekiang workers to maintain the Mission's position elsewhere. Apart from Soochow, into which city other Missions had entered, the C. I. M. held on, however, to all the centres already occupied, and even extended its borders, but to do this large responsi- bilities had to be placed upon the Chinese helpers. Mr. M'Carthy was then chosen to move to Anking, and to effect this Mr. Stevenson undertook the charge of Ningpo, while the Girls' School was transferred from Hangchow to Shaohingfu with Miss Turner as helper, and the Boys' School was moved to Chinkiang where new buildings were erected next to the Girls' School there. Pastor Wang, who was left in charge at the capital, Hangchow, also undertook the over- sight of Chiichowfu, Lanchi and Siaoshan. From Anking Mr. M'Carthy hoped to superintend the work at Hweichow, Kwangtehchow, Tatung and Wuhu where Chinese helpers, most of whom had been converted at Anking, were located. At Hangchow there had been a most encouraging develop- ment towards self-supporting work. A Chinese Missionary Society had been formed, 70,000 cash contributed, and one of the converts had been selected and sent forth as a specially supported evangelist for work in some neglected region. The other Chinese helpers, supported by the Mission, were so widely scattered, some of them being from three to four hundred miles apart, that a Monthly News Letter was adopted for the sake of mutual encouragement and supervision. From Kiukiang, the Yangtze port of Kiangsi, Mr. Card- WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 89 well had continued his journeys throughout the waterways of the province. He had reached Kiukiang in December 1869, had dedicated his httle Mission houseboat to God in March 1871, and had through an ever - extending radius travelled throughout the province. Southward he had gone as far as Wanan, some 360 miles from his base ; westward as far as Sinyuhsien ; to the south-east to Fuchow ; and east along the Kwangsin river and other waterways. In the year 1872 alone he had visited over 107 cities, towns and villages, and had sold 283 New Testaments, 150 Old Testaments, 7000 Gospels and Epistles, and an equal number of other Christian books. How extensive these journeys were a glance at a map of Kiangsi will show. And these journeys were not fruitless, for at Kiukiang there were seventeen candidates for baptism as well as eight inquirers. If we summarize the work of 1873 alone, we find that eleven new stations and out-stations had been occupied in the four provinces of Chekiang, Kiangsu, Anhwei and Kiangsi. One of these stations was Shanghai, where Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fishe took charge, which from this time forth became the Mission's chief business centre in China. And we must not forget to report that on September 3 of the same year, Mr. and Mrs. Judd and Miss Bowyer started from Liverpool, by the American route, on their return to China, taking with them two new workers from Dr. Guinness* Training Institute, Messrs. Henry Taylor and F. W. Bailer. Mr. Hudson Taylor had much hoped that the year 1873 would have seen work started in a new province, but that was not to be before the summer of 1874. The renting, leasing and purchasing of land or buildings, all the tedious delays of opening the new stations and out-stations, already referred to, together with the maintaining of the work elsewhere, had taxed the powers of all the workers to the uttermost, and not least those of Mr. Taylor himself. To follow the history of the Mission inteUigently, it is necessary always to remember that the operations were all directed in accordance with one general and comprehensive 90 THE FIRST DECADE plan for the evangelization of the whole of China. If this is forgotten, the work of the early years will appear too scattered and superficial, but if these early efforts be recognized as part of a well-thought-out campaign, the methods will be more fully appreciated. In April 1873, Mr. Taylor wrote : I am aiming at such organization of our forces as will enable us to do more work with fewer foreign missionaries. I think I may eventu- ally attain to one superintendent and two assistant foreign missionaries in a province, with qualified Chinese helpers in each important city, and colporteurs in less important places. I hope I may be able, ere the year closes, to commence a college for the more thorough training of our Chinese helpers. During the closing months of the year he wrote again : I feel much drawn out in prayer to ask the Lord to give us soon 50 or 100 additional Chinese evangelists, and as many foreign brethren to superintend them as He sees needed, to extend the work into every unoccupied department and county of Chekiang — and there are fifty of them, and also for men and means to extend our w-ork into the nine unoccupied provinces. In January 1874, he wrote : I am now in the act of arranging for the eventual opening up of the whole of this province to the Gospel as the Lord gives us men, open doors, and means. Pray for these three things. This province, Chekiang, contains thirty miUions of souls. It is divided into : WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 91 A Hsien is a county ; the hsien city its capital. In this province they average nearly 400,000 people in the whole Hsien. As the above shows, 48 are still untouched. . . . Others began to work this province in 1842 ; we in 1857 ; the C.I.M. in 1866. It shows that there was work for us to do ; that we have done some, but there is yet much land to be possessed. In February 1874 he wrote a long letter to The Christian, of which the following is an extract : Oh, do pray for us ! Plead earnestly, mightily and with faith, and soon we shall see great things. I feel I must, I do lay hold on God's strength. I am aiming at claiming no less than every city for Christ. I am asking for 50 or 100 Chinese evangelists for this one province (Chekiang), and as many foreign helpers as He sees fit to superintend them. Till the work is fully organized and the mission- aries can go to the other provinces, I have no doubt that He who inspires the prayer and gives the fruit will answer it, than I have that He has answered prayer in the past. I think, too, we should soon claim the remaining nine provinces for the Lord. As soon as I have got the work a Httle more forward here I will try to aim at this. Just now I can only pray, for my pov/ers are limited.^ His, however, are not so. Let us honour Him with a full trust. In July of the same year, though sorely tried about funds, as we shall shortly see, Mr. Taylor wrote again in a private letter which we think will not be misjudged to-day in the Hght of history : No Mission aims at the definite evangelization of China, or even of a single province. All are helping towards it. . . . My plans are now so developing that were I able to remain in China, and had I a few more men of the right stamp, in two or three years we might have, D.V., missions founded in each province otherwise unoccupied — nine ; in each prefecture of Anhwei, and in each Hsien of Chekiang, if funds were adequate. To see the bare possibility of tliis, and to have to defer it by coming home, is a great trial to me ; on the other hand, to return may be needful in order to effect it. These extracts reveal the burden of his prayers, the visions of his hope, and his plans organized in faith in an Almighty God. But faith, hope and courage were to be tested to the uttermost. More than a month before the ^ During this month Mr. Taylor was seriously ill. 92 THE FIRST DECADE letter from which the last extract is taken had been written, Mr. Taylor had accompanied Mr. Judd up the Yangtze to Hankow and Wuchang. Though beset by innumerable difficulties, he purposed opening a station at Wuchang, the vice-regal city of Hupeh and Hunan, the latter one of the unoccupied provinces, with a view to extending eventually into the nine unevangelized provinces. It was on this journey, shortly before Hankow was reached, that Mr. Taylor fell on the steamer on which he was travelling, injuring his spine so seriously that he was threatened with the prospects of being a cripple for life. Yet this did not daunt him. Premises were rented at Wuchang, and Mr. Judd settled in, though he had to make many wearying changes ere he secured a satisfactory home. The Mission now had work in five provinces, and humanly speaking the time seemed altogether inopportune for any extension. Apart from the trials of ill-health, lack of workers, and opposition from the Chinese, the Mission was passing through one of the severest times of financial trial in its history. It seemed as though God had brought His servants down as low as it was possible to be brought, ere He gave them the joy of going forward, that they might prove His strength made perfect in weakness. What then were the liabilities of the Mission and its income ? There were at this time more than fifty buildings — houses, chapels and schools — to keep in repair, as well as rent to pay for forty of them. There were more than loo workers, Chinese and foreign, ^ and 70 children (missionaries' children and Chinese scholars) to provide for. There were all the travelling expenses in China and the expenses of furlough ; so that the Mission needed not less than £100 a week if the work was to be vigorously prosecuted. Yet from January to March of 1874 the Honorary Secretaries in London were only able to send £400. From another source £300 was received, but in making up his accounts on April I, Mr. Taylor found he had only about £5 : los. in hand. 1 The wives of missionaries are included, but not wives of Chinese helpers. WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 93 The story of these days must be read in detail to appre- ciate the prolonged daily trial, but only a summary can be attempted here. Knowing that the workers must be sorely needing funds, Mr. Taylor eagerly awaited the arrival of the next mail. On April 7, he received it, but to find only £25 : II : 8, which consisted wholly of special donations. He knew that £500 would have been instantly absorbed. There were 170 persons to clothe and feed, and what was more, the lives of two workers would be endangered if their furlough were delayed, and the passages for these two and their husbands would cost £225. To make a long and deeply instructive story short, the Honorary Secretaries in London only sent £750 from April to June, and the same kind friend who had sent £300 during the first quarter of the year, sent a similar sum again. Yet in many ways, the details of which cannot be told here, the needs were supplied. " Suffice it to say," wrote Mr. Taylor, " that as usual we proved Him faithful, and we began July with $3 in hand." Let it be remembered that it was during this time of financial trial that Wuchang was opened with a view to work farther west, though a special gift, to which reference will be made later, justified this, and it was during this period that Mr. Taylor wrote : I feel no anxiety, though for a month past I have not had a dollar in hand for the general purposes of the Mission. The Lord will provide. The Mission was truly very poor, except in God. During these two years Mr. Duncan had died, as already mentioned, and Mrs. Rudland died shortly after reaching England ; on October 23, 1874, Miss Blatchley, who had been so much to the Mission at home, its chief correspondent, and its editor, had also died on July 25, 1874.^ The Prayer Meeting in London had almost languished. At times it came as low- as two persons, ^liss Blatchley, as an invalid upon her couch, and Miss H. E. Soltau ; sometimes joined by Mr. Harvey, 1 " The Mission would never have been what it is but for her ability, diligence and faithfulness," wrote Mr. Hudson Taylor. 94 THE FIRST DECADE who was studying medicine. The lack of interest at home had been reflected in the funds. The Home Council was perplexed, but its members all being busy men could do little to make known the needs of China throughout the country. Things were at lowest ebb, but Mr. Taylor would not be dis- couraged. It was true that " the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon " that little Mission, but " it fell not," for was it not founded upon the Rock, as Christ had said of those who heard His words and did them. Writing some tw^o years earlier to the friends of the Mission, Mr. Taylor had said : The Chinese Evangelization Society is no more ; many of the honoured names that were on its Committee are no longer with us ; many of the liberal donors to its funds have entered into their rest ; and some of the labourers in the Mission field have also gone to their reward ; but the work of God in which they were engaged still lives and grows and prospers^ and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. With this conviction, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, Mr. Taylor left China beheving that " these frequent and increasingly severe trials of faith " were to be looked upon " merely as trials of faith," and therefore as a challenge to a larger and a fuller trust in God to do yet greater things than hitherto. What these greater things were our next chapter must show, but ere we pass we must pause to quote a few lines from Dr. Grattan Guinness' tribute to the memory of Miss Blatchley : Faithful friend of a feeble but heroic Mission, would that all its helpers were like-minded with thee ! Would that all those who have ministered to it of their substance had as constant a memory of its wants as thine ! The China Inland Mission has no eloquent advocate of its claims. It has no denomination for its support. It has no great names on v/hich to rely. It is, therefore, cast the more on God, and on the faithful love and help of the comparatively few who can appreciate the simplicity, faith, and devotedness which characterise its work in the interest of China's millions. . . . Here, around this newly opened grave, let our interest in this work revive ; and help Thou, Lord ! Is not Thy Name inscribed upon its banner ? Is not its song Ebenezer, and its hope Jehovah- Jireh ? Bless, then, this Mission, and let the little one become a thousand, for Thy glory's sake. WAXING STRONG IN FAITH 95 MISSIONS IN CHINA (At the close of the Year 1874.) I. The Unoccupied Provinces Province. Protestant Missionaries (1874). Roman Catholic Missionaries (1866). Kansu None u. > Shensi None }24 Shansi Honan Szechwan None None None 25 10 97 9 Bishops. 82 Foreign Priests. 118 Chinese Priests. 1 Yunnan , None 18 1 Kweichow None 17 1 Hunan None 18 J Kwangsi . None Bracketed with Kwangtung. Nine Provinces. No Protestant Worker. 209 Roman Catholic Mission- aries. II. Partially Evangelized Provinces Province. Kwangtung Fukien Chekiang Kiangsu Shantung Chihli Hupeh Kiangsi Anhwei Protestant Missionaries (1874). 55 37 38 36 27 41 18 9 I Nine Provinces. Roman Catholic Missionaries (1866). 262 Protestant Mis- sionaries. Con- nected with 29 Missions. 25 27 27 55 15 88 35 21 Bracketed with Kiangsu. 21 Bishops. 151 Foreign Priests. 119 Chinese Priests. 291 Roman Cathohc Mission- aries. Connected with 5 Missions. THE SECOND DECADE 1875-1885 Chap. 15. The Appeal for the Eighteen. 16. The Door Opened. 17. Unto the Ends of the Earth. 18. Pyrland Road. 19. Pioneers in Women's Work. 20. Blessings in Disguise. 21. A Chinese Pioneer. 22. Healing the Sick. 23. Pioneer Work in Hunan. 24. The Story of the Seventy. 97 H " Do you ask me what I think of China, looking at it from the gates of the grave ? Oh, my heart is big to the overflow : it swells, and enlarges, and expands, and is nigh unto bursting. If I thought anything could prevent my dying for China, the thought would crush me. Our only wish is to live for China, and to die in pointing the Chinese To His redeeming blood, and say Behold the way to God ! " Rev. Samuel Dyer. (Father of the first Mrs. Hudson Taylor, in a letter to his sister written at the bedside of his dying child.) XV THE APPEAL FOR THE EIGHTEEN The birthday of a Mission is not as easily fixed as that of an individual, and especially is this the case with the China Inland Mission. Mr. Taylor sailed for China in 1853 ; his independent work, after his resignation from the Chinese Evangelization Society, commenced in 1857 ; Mr. Meadows, the first of the early workers, sailed in 1862 ; the work was organized under the name China Inland Mission in 1865 ; and the sailing of the Lammermuir party, which more fully inaugurated the Mission, was in 1866. But while the organized work dates from 1865, the Mission year, for the first twenty years, with one exception, dated from May 26, the anniversary of the sailing of the Lammermuir party. In 1885, however, the Mission year was changed so as to start with January i. Accurately speaking, therefore, the early months of 1875 belong to the first decade of the Mission's history, but as January of that ^^ear, in more ways than one, ushers in the beginning of a new period, we shall, for the sake of historical continuity, commence this fresh section with the New Year. In December 1873, a lady in England had written to the Council of the Mission in London : I bless God in two months I hope to place into the hands of your Council the management of £800 for the further extension of the China Inland Mission. Please remember for fresh provinces. ... If faith is put forth and praise sent up, I am sure the Jehovah of Hosts will honour it. 99 100 THE SECOND DECADE It was the receipt of this money coming to Mr. Taylor's knowledge in China, during the months of financial trial in 1874 already referred to, that encouraged him to go forward, with Mr. Judd, and open Wuchang as a base for the regions beyond. During this journey it will be remembered Mr. Taylor injured his spine, and when he returned to England towards the close of the yeo-v, he came as one who was faced with the possibility, if not the probability^ of being a cripple for hfe. The story of these days is one of the most striking illustra- tions of how God*s servants through faith " obtained promises," and, " out of weakness were made strong." Mr. Taylor was practically a helpless invalid, compelled to lie upon his back, and unable even to write his own letters. For six months we can picture him in his room at 6 Pyrland Road, gazing at a map of China set up at the foot of his couch, praying and purposing great things for the land which God had laid upon his heart. It was during this period, when he was absolutely dependent upon the help of friends for the answering of his correspondence, and when in regard to the needs of China and of the Mission he could, as he afterwards wrote, " do nothing but rejoice in the Lord and wait patiently for Him," that he sent forth a remarkable appeal, especially remarkable when his helpless and crippled state be remembered. This Appeal, which was printed in a number of Christian journals,^ was as follows : Appeal for Prayer On Behalf of more than 150 Millions of Chinese There are nine provinces of China, each as large as a European kingdom, averaging a population of seventeen or eighteen millions each, but all destitute of the pure Gospel. About a hundred Roman Catholic priests from Europe live in them, but not one Protestant missionary. Much prayer has been offered on behalf of these nine provinces by some friends of the China Inland Mission ; and during the past year 1 This is copied from the pages of The Christian for January 21, 1875. THE APPEAL FOR THE EIGHTEEN loi nearly £4000 ^ has been contributed on condition that it be used in these provinces alone. We have some native Christians from these regions^ who have been converted in our older stations, and who are most earnestly desiring the evangelization of their native districts. Our present pressing need is of missionaries to lead the way. Will each of your Christian readers at once raise his heart to God;, and wait one minute in earnest prayer that God will raise up this year eighteen suitable men, to devote themselves to this work. Warm-hearted young men, who have a good knowledge of business, clerks, or assist- ants in shops, who have come in contact with the public and learnt to cover the wants and suit the wishes of purchasers, are well fitted for this work. They should possess strong faith, devoted piety, and burning zeal ; be men who will gladly live, labour, suffer, and if need be, die for Christ's sake. There are doubtless such in the Churches of the United Kingdom. May the Lord thrust many of them out. We shall be glad to hear from such. J. Hudson Taylor. China Inland Mission, 6 Pyrland Road, N., January 1875. How inopportune the time and circumstances appeared for such an appeal ! Mr. Taylor, the leader of the work was weak and helpless. That was true, but had not the command been given " to preach the Gospel to every creature " ? " His commands sometimes appear strange," wrote Mr. Taylor. " At times it might have been urged that they were impracticable." But commenting on the words, " Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it," he added : We believe that the time has come for doing more fully what He has commanded us ; and by His grace we intend to do it. Not to try ; for we see no Scriptural authority for trying. " Try " is a word constantly in the mouth of unbehevers ... in our experience " to try " has usually meant " to fail." The word of the Lord in reference to His commands is not, " Do your best," but " Do it," that is, do the thing commanded. We are therefore making arrangements for commencing work in each of these nine provinces ; without haste, " for he that believeth shall not make haste," but also without un- necessary delay. When the Appeal was issued little did God's servants know how events in China were to be ordered for the opening 1 The greater part of this sum. was from a private legacy left to Mrs. Hudson Taylor which she devoted to this new work. 102 THE SECOND DECADE of these unoccupied provinces — events which at first seemed to close the doors rather than open them. On February 21, 1875, Mr. A. R. Margary, a young Consular officer, was murdered in Yunnan, when travelling with a special passport provided by the Tsungli Yamen. For the next eighteen months China indulged in a series of provoking delays in offering reparation, until Great Britain and China were on the verge of war, and Sir Thomas Wade, the British Minister, withdrew from Peking. But these things did not make Mr. Taylor waver in his resolution. " The difficulties/' he wrote^ " are to human strength insuper- able. ... Is not all Burma in turmoil ? Has not Margary been murdered at Manwyne ? Do not the latest tidings tell of Chinese troops massing in Yunnan ? . . . What; again, can our brother Henry Taylor and his Chinese evangelist do among the twenty-five millions of Honan ? We care not to answer that question ; we know what He who dwells in them and walks in them can do there." And so candidates were encouraged to offer and were accepted when suitable. Meanwhile on the field attention was being given to some of these needy provinces. ^Ir. Henry Taylor, referred to above, left Wuchang on x\pril 3 in company with Evangehst Chang and commenced the first missionary journey in Honan. During this tour, which lasted fifty-six days, he ^dsited a number of cities and towns in the prefectures of Nanyang and Runing, as well as the prefectural cities them- selves. In the autumn he again visited the province, reach- ing Kaifeng, the capital, in December, and Honanfu a little later. This second journey lasted nearly three months. In June of the same year Mr. Judd, with two Chinese Christians, one named Yao being a converted Hunanese, entered Hunan. No difficulty was at first experienced in renting and entering a house in Yochow. But how little did they realize that long years of opposition would have to be encountered, and that their pioneering efforts would need to be repeated as often as the Syrophoenician woman her entreaties, ere a permanent settlement was gained. Even then the knowledge of Margary 's murder was used THE APPEAL FOR THE EIGHTEEN 103 as a pretext by the officials for withholding protection, and the little party had to withdraw somewhat speedily, after being roughly handled. Hunan was, however, visited again later in the year by the Chinese evangelists. Thus without any reinforcements from home, two of the nine unoccupied provinces had been entered and work commenced. Early thought was also given to western China. For ten years prayer had been offered that God would open the way into Yunnan through Burma, and it was a similar desire for the purposes of trade that led to the expedition of the Indian Government, in connection with which Margary had been killed. The Mohammedan rebellion, which lasted till 1873, had long kept this door closed, but this rebelHon was now crushed, and Mr. Taylor therefore decided to open a station in Bhamo, with the western provinces in view. The Irrawaddy had been opened as far as Bhamo, and a British resident stationed there, so Messrs. J. W. Stevenson ^ and Henry Soltau sailed for Rangoon from Glasgov/ on April 6, 1875, with Bhamo as their objective. Owing to political difficulties they at first experienced some delay, but in the autumn, after an interview with the King of Burma in Mandalay, who gave them a grant of land for Mission purposes, they settled in Bhamo on October 3, which has been held ever since as a station of the Mission. The prayer that this might be a door into western China was not to be answered in the way expected, yet none the less, the murder of Margary, in the effort of securing a western entrance into China, did lead to the opening, not only of the western provinces, but of inland China generally, as will be related in the next chapter. But though inland China was not open, more than sixty candidates applied in response to the appeal made by Mr. Taylor. Of these, nine men sailed before the close of the year, while one other, Mr. Adams, was accepted in Burma. In the earl}/ m.onths of the following year, 1876, five more ^ When Mr. Stevenson left Shaohingfu for furlough in June 1874 (there being then 42 communicants in his district), Mr. Meadows took charge temporarily ! Mr. Meadows, however, remained there till his death in 1914. Forty years at this station, with onh^ one furlough, is no mean record. 104 THE SECOND DECADE men followed, so that in less than eighteen months fifteen men ^ had been accepted, and had gone forward for work among the nine unoccupied provinces, while six others, who were already members of the Mission, had volunteered for the same work. During the same period seven ladies (3 single and 4 wives) had joined the Mission, making thus a total of twenty-two new workers in all. 1 Henry Soltau, George King, J. Cameron, G. Nicoll, George Clarke, J. F. Broumton, G. F. Easton, J.J. Turner, C. Budd, S. Adams, E. Pearse, F. James, George Parker, Horace Randle, and R. J. Landale. 1. George King. •1. James WiLLiAMfeON. 7. George Clarke. Group III. 2. George Duncan. 5. Jame.s J. Meadows (in 1862), 8. George F. Easton. Biographical details can he ascertained hy use of Index, p. See also Summary of Early Journeys, pp. 114-115. James Cameron. Charles H. Judd. George Parker. 375. Between i)p. 104-105. 1. J. F. Broumton. 4. Fred. W. Baller. 7. Samuel Clarke. Geoup IV. 2. Henry Hunt. 5. James McCarthy. 8. J. J. Coulthard. 3. Adam C. Dorward. 6. Edward Pearse. 9. George Nicoll. Biographical details can be ascertained by use of Index, p. 375. See also Summary of Early Journeys, pp. 114-115. Between pp. 104-105. XVI THE DOOR OPENED After the sailing of the new volunteers, mentioned in the last chapter, Mr. Taylor, with a party of ladies, left England on September 7, 1876. This date was, as it will be recog- nized, six days before the signing of the Chef 00 Convention, and the going forth of such a party at such a time seemxd almost worse than foolish. All the negotiations of the British Minister with the Chinese Government had failed, and so at last Sir Thomas Wade had left Peking, and strong reinforcements were sent out to strengthen the British Fleet. " But," wrote Mr. Taylor, " prayer has not failed," and so feeling impelled of God to go forth once again to strengthen the hands of the volunteers who had so recently reached China, he determined, though outward circumstances appeared adverse, to go forward. Improbable and unwise as it all appeared to human sight, the time was God's time, for the Chinese Government saw, when Sir Thomas Wade withdrew from Peking, that they had gone too far, and H. E. Li Hung-chang speedily followed the British Minister to Chef 00, where the Convention was signed on September 13, 1876. Thus it came to pass that though the door was still closed when Mr. Taylor and party sailed on September 7, he found, when he once again landed on China's shores that the fullest freedom had been gained for carrying forward the work so much desired. Events had unquestionably been guided by an Omniscient Leader, for not only were the men on the field, but they had had time for the study of the language, and were now ready 105 io6 THE SECOND DECADE for the Forward Movement. No time or conditions could have been more favourable. The Chefoo Convention secured that special orders should be sent by the Tsungli Yamen to all Provincial Governors, instructing them to issue a Proclamation which should embody at length an Imperial decree granting full liberty and protection to all foreigners travelling in inland China, if provided with a passport. The Convention also agreed that for the following two years, officers should be sent by the British Minister to different places in the provinces to see that the proclamation was posted.^ Thus did He by whom " kings reign and princes decree justice " set before His servants an open door into the remotest parts of the Empire. Let us follow them in some of their long and arduous journeys. It will be remembered that journeys had been made into Honan and Hunan, two of the nine unoccupied provinces, before any of the new reinforcements had reached China. Messrs. Stevenson and H. Soltau also had settled at Bhamo in October 1875 as a pied-d-terre for entry into Yunnan. In the following January they secured a site for building the necessary premises, and ere these were ready they were joined by Mr. Adams and by Dr. and Mrs. Harvey, who had come out to start medical work. In August 1876, before the signing of the Chefoo Convention, Messrs. F. W. Bailer and George King set off from Hankow for the province of Shensi, and reached Hinganfu in September. On this journey they were only absent for a little over two months, as their supplies ran short, and they reached Wuchang to find that the Settlement at Chefoo had been made during their absence. Little time was lost after the signing of the Chefoo Con- vention ere advantage was taken of its facilities. During the third week of October, a few days before Mr. Taylor reached Shanghai, three parties set forth for the north and north-eastern provinces : Messrs. George King and Budd 1 This Convention, signed on September 13, 1876, was not ratified until May 6, 1886. This delay was occasioned by China's refusal to exempt opium from the Likin tax. It was not until July 18, 1885, that China signed the additional articles granting this exemption. THE DOOR OPENED 107 for Shensi ; Messrs. Easton and George Parker for Kansu, via Shensi ; and Messrs. Turner and F. James for Shansi, each worker accompanied by a Chinese helper. A request for prayer for these brethren, sent home by Mr. McCarthy, was*pubHshed in The Christian, and supported by a letter from Lord Radstock : " It may be/' wrote Lord Radstock, " that the request for prayer for the twelve preachers of the Gospel, going to Shensi, Shansi, and Kansu, has scarcely conveyed to the Church of Christ the unspeakable importance and blessedness of the service undertaken. A glance at the map will show that a journe}^ of about 800 miles is needed before Shensi and Shansi can be reached, and that probably iioo miles will have to be traversed by those going to Kansu. There are, I beheve, upwards of forty million persons in these provinces. . . . Surely these servants of God ought to have the most heartfelt sympathy and constant prayers of the whole Church." In December 1876 Messrs. Cameron and Nicoll started for Ichang as a halfway station for work in the province of Szechwan. On January 2, 1877, Messrs. Judd and Broumton left for the province of Kweichow, travelhng through Hunan. In the same month Mr. McCarthy left Chinkiang for his memorable journey across China into Burma. Two or three months later Messrs. George Clarke, Edward Fishe and R. J. Landale followed Messrs. Judd and Broumton into Kweichow, for work in Kwangsi ; while Mr. Henry Taylor continued his itinerant journeys in the province of Hon an. Thus was full use made of the door which God had un- questionably opened into all of the unoccupied provinces of China. Though space will only permit the barest outline, let us in our next chapter rapidly follow these several parties of travellers into the various provinces visited. XVII UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH The province of Shansi first claims our attention. This province, which is larger in area than Scotland and Ireland combined, is now well known to many readers as the centre of Pastor Hsi's remarkable work, and as the province where more than 150 missionaries and their children were put to death in 1900. With this province as their objective, Messrs. J. J. Turner and F. James set forth from Chinkiang on October 17, 1876. Travelling up the river as far as Nanking, they landed at Pukow, now known as the Yangtze terminus of the railway from Tientsin, and started their long overland journey through Anhwei and Honan, across the Yellow River, and up the almost wall-hke ascent to the uplands of Shansi. This province was entered on November 15, and during the next few weeks seven walled cities, including the three prefectural cities of Tsechow, Pingyangfu, and Puchowfu were visited ; and then shoit- ness of funds compelled them to return via Honan and the Han river to Hankow, which they reached on January 8. During their absence of two and a half months they had traversed some seventeen hundred miles in peace and safety. After a rest of about a month, the travellers set forth once again on February 8, journeying this time up the Han river with the full intention of remaining permanently, if possible, in the province of Shansi. When they came to traverse that province, and neared the capital, Taiyuanfu, which was reached in April, they discovered a distressing condition of affairs. For three years there had been no 108 UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH 109 crops, and the wheat of that year had already turned brown. The sandy soil was dried to powder ; the cities and villages exhibited many marks of poverty ; the fields were mostly barren, and the people in a starving condition. Making Taiyuanfu their centre, the two brethren commenced work in the surrounding country, but during the year both of them were stricken down with famine fever, and after a period of seven months, the condition of Mr. James' health made a change absolutely necessary. Unable to travel alone, Mr. Turner escorted him to the coast. Taiyuanfu was left on November 28, and Wuchang reached on January 22, 1878, just eleven months and nine days since they had set out. Little did they know that only tw^o days after they had left the city of Taiyuanfu for the south. Dr. Timothy Richard reached the same city from the east, bringing famine relief. In the following March Mr. Turner returned to the province, this time accompanied by the Rev. David Hill of the Wesleyan Missionary Society and the Rev. A. Whiting of the American Presbyterian Mission, with the sum of between four and five thousand pounds for the purpose of famine relief. The ministry of Mr. Whiting was very short, for he was taken ill with famine fever and died on April 25, within three weeks of his arrival in the province. For some time Messrs. Hill and Turner laboured together in Pingyangfu. At the end of July Mr. Turner joined Dr. Richard in the capital, but in the autumn when the latter left, Mr. Turner at Taiyuanfu and David Hill at Pingyangfu remained the only Protestant missionaries in the w^hole of the distressed province. Here for the present we must leave them to follow the movements of workers in Shensi. The first journey into Shensi, a province equal in area to England and Wales, had been made by Messrs. Bailer and King before the signing of the Chef 00 Convention, as already recorded. The second journey was commenced in the autumn of the same year, when Messrs. King, Budd, East on, and Parker left Hankow on November 8, 1876, in two parties. no THE SECOND DECADE From Kingtzekwan the journey was made overland, and Mr. King wrote : After very rough journeyings, over roads which I should think would have broken Mr. Macadam's heart, we arrived at the capital Sianfu on December 21. At this city, famous as an ancient capital of China and as the site of the Nestorian Tablet, the party divided, Messrs. Easton and Parker going forward into Kansu, and the other two brethren, sometimes together and sometimes apart, gave their time to extensive itinerations throughout the province. These journeys lasted nearly five months, and Hankow was reached again by the Shensi band on April 4. But Mr. Budd soon turned his face north again, for in May we find him wending his way back to Shensi, this time accompanied only by a Chinese helper. On this journey the northern city of Yenanfu was reached. The great famine which was so sorely distressing Shansi, was being felt in Shensi also, and later on Messrs. Bailer and Markwick visited the province hoping to render some assistance. But all famine relief work was absolutely forbidden by the ofhcials. It was not until 1879 that the first station was opened in the province. This was in the city of Hanchungfu, and it was opened by Mr. King, who had gained the favour of a local official during a former visit to the capital. Messrs. Easton and Parker, whom we have already seen as far as Sianfu in company with the Shensi workers, crossed the border into Kansu on December 29, 1876, and reached the capital, Lanchowfu, on January 21 of the following year. After visiting a number of cities they returned to Hankow, which was reached on April 6, just two days after their two colleagues had arrived from Shensi - Kansu, however, was not long left without a witness for Jesus Christ, for in May Messrs. King and Easton set out once more for the far north-west. Under the blazing sun of June, when the hot winds smote them, wrote Mr. King, as though coming from the engine room of a steamer, they crossed the Sian Plain, and once again entered the neighbour- UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH iii ing province. Finding the people friendly, premises were secured at Tsinchow, which became the first headquarters of the Mission in the province. We must now turn our attention elsewhere and follow the brethren who travelled into the western provinces. As the year 1876 was drawing to its close, Messrs. Judd and Broumton commenced their preparations for a journey through Hunan into Kweichow. On the second day of the new year they started on a journey which was to last more than three months, and was to take them through the cities of Yochow, Changteh, Shenchow in Hunan, in which cities they engaged v\^ithout let or hindrance in street preaching and book selling. They noticed, however, that in no place in Hunan had the proclamations been put up, stating the right of foreigners to travel, though by the Chefoo Convention these should have been posted in every city. In other provinces the missionaries had found them, and in fact sometimes the foreigners were welcomed as though they were officials who had been sent by the British Govern- ment to see that the proclamations were properly exposed. On February 3, Messrs. Judd and Broumton crossed the border into Kweichow, and when the capital was reached premises were easily secured through the kind assistance of General Mesny of the Chinese army. As soon as Mr. Broumton was settled, Mr. Judd started on his return journey, travelling this time via Chungking, which city was reached in March, and thence down the Yangtze back to Hankow. On May 5 of the same year, Messrs. George Clarke, Edward Fishe, and R. J. Landale left Wuchang to follovN^ the same route, through Hunan into Kweichow, taken by the preceding party, save that instead of passing through Tung j en, they travelled via Yiianchow and Chenyuan. On June 27, when they reached Kweiyang, the capital, they were warmly welcomed by Mr. Broumton who was, it will be remembered, alone. W^hile Mr. Landale remained to keep Mr. Broumton company, Messrs. George Clarke and Edward Fishe set forth 112 THE SECOND DECADE on July 5 for the new province of Kwangsi, where they travelled for six weeks, preaching the Gospel and selling the Scriptures. Sad to relate, on this journey Mr. Fishe took cold, and shortly after his return to the capital in September, died, leaving his widow far away at the coast to mourn her loss. While Messrs. Landale and Broumton remained on in the province, Mr. Clarke returned to Hankow, travelling via Chungking in Szechwan. During this journey, which lasted six months and two days, Mr. Clarke covered some three thousand miles, and reported that from the experience he had gained in some five thousand miles of travel through nine different provinces, he had found the people most willing to purchase the Scriptures. There is now only one of the nine provinces which has not been mentioned and that is Yunnan. It had been hoped that the brethren at Bhamo would have been able easily to cross the border, but in November 1876, when they purposed, in response to the invitations of the people, to visit the Kahchens in their mountain villages, they were only per- mitted to leave Bhamo after having given a written promise to the effect that they would not cross the frontier. Though they could stand upon the hills in Burma and look across the plains of China, which seemed so accessible and near, this prohibition of the British authorities effectually prevented them. For long years to come, with perhaps one exception, Yunnan was only to be reached by a lengthy journey from Shanghai. But though Yunnan was not to be entered from the west, it was open on the east, and in the middle of January 1877, Mr. McCarthy left Chinkiang for his now famous journey across China through Yunnan into Burma. Following the river Yangtze, he reached Chungking on May i, after having passed through the Ichang riot with Messrs. Cameron and Nicoll. At Chungking he succeeded in renting premises, the first Mission premises in Szechwan, where he left such luggage as he could not well carry overland. From thence he travelled on foot all the way through Kweichow and Yunnan, with a Chinese Christian as companion and a UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH 113 couple of coolies. Bhamo, the terminus of his journey, was safely reached on August 26. Thus was completed the first journey across China undertaken by a non-ofhcial traveller. During the whole of the more than seven months he was upon the road he was never once asked for his passport, nor had he at any time to appeal to any officer for help or protection. " From the people everywhere," he wrote in the paper read before the Royal Geographical Society in April 1879, " I received only civility and kindness." The first difficulty experienced came from the Indian Government, for no sooner had he reached Bhamo than the British Agent forbade him to return to China by the way he had come. Not long after Mr. McCarthy had gone west, Messrs. Cameron and Nicoll left Ichang and entered Szechwan, to take possession of the premises rented at Chungking. After a short stay in this city they were joined by an American Presbyterian missionary, Mr. Leaman, and set forth together for the political capital of the province, Chengtu. From this city, after a brief stay, they proceeded to Yachow and Tsingkihsien, from which point Mr. Nicoll, v/ho was ill, accompanied by Mr. Leaman, returned to Chungking, leaving Mr. Cameron to go forward alone to eastern Tibet. Crossing the border at Tatsienlu, Mr. Cameron visited Litang, reported to be the highest city in the world. From thence he passed on to Batang, a centre of great importance, partly administered from Peking and partly from Lhasa. Crossing the Kinsha, or the upper reaches of the Yangtze, he con- tinued along the borders of Tibet Proper and Assam to the last Tibetan town, Atuntsu, in Yunnan. Thence via Talifu he crossed into Burma, where he experienced the same un- willingness on the part of the Indian Government in regard to re-entering China. In consequence of this prohibition, he proceeded south to Rangoon, and thence to Canton, where he once again turned his face inland, journeying through Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Kweichow back to Yunnanfu. Cameron was indeed the Livingstone of China, and during the next few years, traveUing nearly always on foot, he not only traversed seventeen of the eighteen provinces, but I 114 THE SECOND DECADE journeyed extensively in Manchuria, Mongolia, Sinkiang, Eastern Tibet, Burma and Hainan. Thus rapidly have we sought to follow some of those early pioneers in their journeys through the nine unoccupied provinces. In a little more than three years from the issue of the appeal for the eighteen men for these unevangelized regions, some thirty thousand miles had been travelled in China, and that when there were no railways and when twenty or thirty miles were considered a good day's journey. All these journeys were taken as a means to an end, as " prehminary to localized work," being " principally valu- able as a preparatory a.gency," to quote phrases used by Mr. Taylor in his paper on " Itineration as an Evangelistic Agency," read before the Shanghai Conference in 1877. It is true that at the time the wisdom of such widespread journeys was questioned by some, but they were, as has been already indicated in regard to the earher journeys, part of a comprehensive plan, and it is probably sufficient to say that in the hght of subsequent developments, Wisdom has in this respect been justified of her children. As early as the Annual Meeting of 1878, Mr. Taylor was able to report that not only had all the nine unoccupied provinces been visited, but that twelve missionaries had already settled in, or been designated to, four of them. In these previously unoccupied provinces twelve stations and out-stations had been opened, twenty Chinese helpers were already at work, and more than forty converts had been gathered. SUMMARY OF EARLY JOURNEYS Men Burma. Stevenson^ Soltau^ Adams^ and Harvey, to Bhamo. MTarthy and Cameron, Bhamo to Rangoon. Kansu. Easton and Parker, first journey to Lanchow. King and Easton, second journey to Lanchow. Shensi. Bailer and King, first journe}' to Hinganfu. King and Budd, second journey to Sianfu. Budd alone, third journey to Yenanfu. UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH 11 = Shansi. Turner and James, first journey to Pingyangfu. Turner and James, second journey to Taiyuanfu. Turner alone, third journey to Tai}aianfu. Honan. Henry Taylor, first journey to Runing and Nanyangfu. Henry Taylor, second journey to Kaifeng and Honanfu. Henry Taylor and George Clarke, third journey to Kweitehfu. Szechwan. McCarthy, through to Burma. Cameron and NicoU, to Chungking, etc. Cameron alone, to Burma. Ilundn and Judd and Broumton, to Kweiyangfu. Kweichow. Judd alone, back via Szechwan. E. Fishe, G. Clarke and R. J. Landale to Kweiyang. Clark alone, back via Szechwan. Cameron. Yunnan. McCarthy, through to Burma. Cameron, through to Burma. Kwangsi. E. Fishe and G. Clarke, from and to Kweiyang. Cameron. Anhwei. Duncan and Harvey, several journeys. McCarthy, Bailer, and Pearse, several journeys. King, Cameron, Randle, Clarke, several journeys. Kiangsu. Duncan and Harvey, to and from Tsingkiangpu, etc. Harvey alone, Haichow, etc. And many others. Chekiang. Duncan and Harvey, Stott, and many others. Kwangtung. Cameron. XVIII PYRLAND ROAD When Mr. Taylor had issued his appeal for the eighteen workers for the nine unoccupied provinces, it soon became evident that further help and enlarged premises for the Home Department were necessary. Messrs. R. H. Hill and Henry Soltau, from their appointment in 1872/ had nobly served the work as Honorary Secretaries, but in April 1875 Mr. Soltau sailed for Burma, as one of the eighteen, in com- pany with Mr. Stevenson to open Bhamo. In response to the appeal more than sixty candidates applied, and of these about thirty came to spend longer or shorter periods of study at Pyrland Road. To accommodate these No. 4 was secured in addition to No. 6, and early in the summer Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Broomhall came to reside at No. 5, opposite (moving subsequently into No. 2), to assist in the work. For the next twenty years — destined to witness such remarkable expansion in the whole work — the headquarters of the Mission in Great Britain remained at this centre, and the name of Pyrland Road thus became inseparably associated with the C.I.M. The friendship between Hudson Taylor and Benjamin Broomhall, his brother-in-law, dated back to when they were lads in their teens at Bamsley. While this is not the place for personal details, one or two brief extracts from letters may be allowed to show how Mr. Broomhall was drawn into the work. Within a few days of Mr. Taylor's 1 Continued from Chapter XIII. p. 85. 116 PYRLAND ROAD 117 landing in Shanghai, he wrote in a long letter of eight pages, dated March 12, 1854 : Oh, my dear brother, give yourself entirely to the work of God. I trust you will ; I hope you will. We want more helpers, men of sincere piety, men of earnest zeal, yet men of caution and prudence. We want men who love God supremely and souls next. We want men not only willing to do, but also to suffer the will of God ; men of faith, who can afford to despise the world and look forward to the sur- passing glory in store. Oh, that you may be such an one ! Oh pray for me, my dear brother, and come and help me. On December 16 of the same year he wrote again, adding at the close of his letter : When you have done with the letter perhaps you will let my parents and sisters see it, and thus I shall make one account do for both — an expedient you yourself will probably adopt before you have been with me a twelvemonth — for I feel assured you will join me sooner or later. For long Benjamin Broomhall and Amelia Hudson Taylor, his future wife, were exercised as to whether it were not God's will for them to go to China. Had Hudson Taylor's sister had her way it would have been China, and " sooner " rather than " later," but God guided otherwise, and Benjamin Broomhall, who wrote in 1856 : "I give Hudson credit for moving depths of feeling in my heart which before I had not been conscious of," was gaining a wide knowledge both of men and affairs, which was to fit him for valuable service to the Mission in later days. When Mr. Henry Soltau sailed for Burma, Mr. Benjamin Broomhall came, with Mr. William Soltau, to assist Mr. Richard Hill in the work in London. In the early days of 1879 ^^- Taylor, in view of his approaching departure for China, went more thoroughly into the organization of the Home Department, and on February 5, 1879, ^^ quote the Minutes of the London Council : Mr. Broomhall was appointed General Secretary, with the distinct understanding on the part of Mr. Taylor and the Council and himself that he is considered responsible for the general superintendence and conduct of the Home work of the Mission. At the same meeting the question of the Home Director- ii8 THE SECOND DECADE ship of the Mission was discussed, and at the next meeting, held five days later, Mr. Theodore Howard, who had been a Member of the Council from its commencement in 1872 and Chairman since October 5, 1875, was asked to accept the post of Director of the Home work of the Mission. " Mr. Howard/' to quote the Minutes again, " consented to accept this position, and was thereupon appointed and authorized by Mr. Taylor, with the cordial approval of the Council, to act in that capacity during Mr. Taylor's absence in China, and jointly with him when he is in England." It must also be mentioned that it was arranged, in the event of Mr. Taylor's death, should no other appointment on the Field have been made, that Mr. Howard should, for the time being, act as Director of the whole work. In ac- cepting this position Mr. Howard generously had it recorded that : He and the Council generalty wished it to be understood by Mr. Broomhall that his responsibility was not in any way diminished, nor the relation of his fellow-workers to himself altered, but that in Mr. Howard he would have one to whom he could refer in any circumstances requiring direction. Passing from these references to the personnel of the Home Department, it should be recorded that with the entry upon this new stage in the Mission's development the official organ of the Mission was also changed. In March 1875 the Occasional Paper, which had been commenced early in 1866, before the sailing of the Lammermuir party, Vv^as published for the last time ; and in the following July the first copy of China's Millions appeared, which, as a monthly magazine, has been published regularly ever since. In the following October, at the same Council Meeting as that at which Mr. Howard was appointed Home Director, Mr. Taylor read the first draft of a paper entitled The Principles and Practice of the China Inland Mission, which it was felt desir- able that all joining the Mission should henceforth cordially approve. This paper still remains the official statement of the Mission's Principles and Practice. It will thus be recognized that with the year 1875 the PYRLAND ROAD 119 Mission entered upon a new and distinct period of its history botli at home and abroad. In China the more experimental stage of work in the nearer provinces passed to that which was to embrace within its purview the whole of unevangel- ized China ; while at home the same period was to witness the transition from the voluntary and honorary stage to that of a more regularly organized department. This entry upon a larger ministry, with its enlarged responsibilities, was not without its special trials of faith, associated, as trials ever have been, ^vith special encourage- ments and deliverances. Of these trials and deliverances references can only be made to one or two. On the morning of May 24, 1875, during the period of Mr. Taylor's illness, when the few friends at Pyrland Road met for prayer, Mr. Taylor remarked that it was necessary to ask God to remind His wealthy stewards of the need of the work. Adding up the amounts received from May 4 to 24, and finding it only come to £68 : 6 : 2, he said : " This is nearly £235 less than our average expenditure in China for three v/eeks. Let us remind the Lord of it." They did so, and that evening the postman brought a letter which con- tained a cheque for £235 : 7 : 9, which v/as to be acknow- ledged as " From the sale of Plate." ^ " Dear readers," v/rote Mr. Taylor in China s Millions, when reporting this incident, " ' trust in Him at all times,' you will never have cause to regret it." With the year 1878 the whole question of finances had to be faced in a new way. In the Report for two years, pre- sented at the Annual Meetings of that year, it was mentioned that the funds received during the two years under reviev/ did not represent the expenditure of that period, for the special sum of £4000, mentioned in the Appeal for the Eighteen, had been absorbed in the pioneer work for which it had been originally given. These workers, therefore, now came upon the General Funds ; and moreover, during these two years twenty-one new workers had joined the Mission, bringing up the total to seventy-two, while there ^ Vv'e are permitted now to state that this came from the late Lord Radstock. 120 THE SECOND DECADE had been a proportionate increase in Chinese helpers and in new stations. What, then, should be the Mission's attitude towards the number of candidates who were ready to go forward ? " Wel]^ this question/' said Mr Taylor at the same Annual Meeting, " came again to us anew during the present year. From the Report which you have heard you have learned that the money which God sent in answer to prayer for pioneer work in a number of unevangelized provinces — some thousands of pounds — has been used up and absorbed in the work of the last two years, and the question might have been raised, ' With a current income not equal within a thousand or two thousand pounds to the expenses of the Mission, is the project of sending forth twenty or thirty additional missionaries at all a prudent thing, even if men and women who appear to be suitable are found ? ' Well, we have looked the thing in the face, dear friends ; and this is the conclusion to which we have come, that with the current income of the Mission we have nothing to do, but with God we have every- thing to do ; that we are not going to send out twenty or thirty mission- aries, or one, but we are going to ask God to send twenty or thirty missionaries ; and if He sends twenty or thirty devoted missionaries, He is just as able to support them as He has proved faithful and loving in supplying those who went previously. . . . We feel that if God by His grace will only keep our brothers and sisters faithful to Him, that ensures everything," Acting upon the principle of faith referred to in the foregoing passage, new candidates were accepted and sailed for China, and the Mission was cast more than ever upon God to supply the constantly recurring wants. On Friday, February 21, 1879, the Mission was unable to make any remittance to China, and there were no funds in hand for the outfits and passages of some of the party expected to sail from Marseilles on March 9. " Under these circumstances," wrote ]\Ir. Taylor in a little article on Tnist in Him at all times, it was remembered with thankfulness how frequently — nay, almost invariably — God has given special tokens of His readiness to help about the time of a departure of new missionaries ; and at the daily Prayer Meeting from twelve to one o'clock, with thanksgiving and praise for past mercies, God was asked again to show Himself gracious, not only in supplying present and immediate needs, but also in en- couraging the hearts of His young servants, who were casting them- PYRLAND ROAD 121 selves upon His faithfulness for life^ for healthy for food, for raiment, and for all the grace and help needed in His service. . . . With great joy and rest of heart these petitions were left with Him. On Saturday morning, February 22, the answering message came by the first post. One of the letters contained a cheque for £600. Our hearts were gladdened, our faith was strengthened ; not only in private, but at our weekly Prayer Meeting thanksgiving and praise were offered to God ; and hearty prayer went up that He would abundantly bless the munificent donor and every member of his household. We can testify from oft-repeated experience that it is blessed indeed to " trust in Him at all times," and would exhort all His tried ones to " pour out their hearts before Him, for the living God verily is a refuge for us " 1 Home department continued in Chapter XXXIII. p. 220. XIX PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK The difficulties in the way of women's work in China and the remarkable manner in which these have been overcome have hardly been sufficiently realized. In the days of Dr. Morrison the Chinese regulations which controlled Foreign intercourse rigorously excluded even the wives of merchants from residence at Canton. Twice in the year 1830 the Chinese threatened to stop all trade at Canton, in order to enforce the immediate departure of a few ladies who had come over on a visit from Macao. With their policy of exclusion, the Chinese were shrewd enough to see that where the wives were allowed to come the men became residents rather than visitors. With the cessation of the East India Company's charter and the subsequent war, these regula- tions naturally had to give way, so far as the Ports v/ere concerned. The ffi-st single lady to go to the Far East was Miss Newell (subsequently Mrs. Gutzlaff), who was sent out by the Society for promoting Female Education in China, India, and the East in 1827. As China was closed at that tim.e, she settled at Malacca, where she conducted five Schools for Girls. The first single lady to enter China Proper was Miss Aldersey, a member of the Committee of the same Society, who v/ent out to Malacca at her own charges in 1832, and reached Hongkong in 1842, on the very day that peace was signed. Two years later she opened at Ningpo the first Girls' School in China, in which work she was subsequently joined by Miss Maria Dyer, who was married to Mr. Hudson 122 Mrs. George Stott. Miss Crickmay. Mrs. George King {nee Snow). Group V. 2. Mrs. F. W. Baller. 5. Mrs. Hudson Taylor {nee Faulding) 8. Miss E. Wilson. 3. Miss Desgraz. 6. Miss Celia Horne. 9. Mrs. S. Clarke {nee Faussett). All the women who first entered tJie nine unoccupied inland jiroviyices are in these Groups. For Biographical details use Index, p. 375, ccnd Summary of Early Journeys on p. 132. Betiveen jip. 122-123. Group VI. 1. Mrs. F. W. Broumtox. 2. Mus. J. J. Meadows. 3. Mrs. G. Parker. 4. Mrs. Henry Hunt. 5. Miss M. Murray. 6. Mrs. G. Nicoll. 7. Miss Kidd. 8. Mrs. George Clarke {nee Rossier). 9. Miss C. Kerr. All the women who first entered the nine unoccupied inland provinces are in these Groups. For Biographical details use Index, p. 375, and Summary of Early Journeys on p. 132. Between pp. 122-123 PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 123 Taylor in January 1858. Miss Lydia Fay of the Protestant Episcopal Mission, who went out to China in 1850, seems to have been the hrst single lady sent out from America. Of necessity the beginnings of women's work in China were slow. When the Lammermuir party sailed in 1866 there were only fourteen unmarried lady missionaries in China, and seven of these were located at Hongkong, a British Crown Colony ; yet in that one party there were six single lady workers. These ladies, and others who followed them, settled not only at Hangchow, but, as the preceding chapters have shown, at other centres inland such as Nanking, Yangchow and Anking.^ In the face of much criticism and of many difficulties the C.I.M. was privileged not only to open many of the earliest stations in the interior of China, but also to send the first women workers to nine of the inland provinces. These were Anhwei and all of the nine unoccupied provinces except Kwangsi. The call for lady workers to enter the first of these formerly unoccupied provinces came through the terrible famine of 1877 and 1878, which affected at least thirty millions of people. When following the pioneer journeys recorded in a previous chapter, this famine has been mentioned, but its awful magnitude calls for fuller details now. In 1877 the autumn crops throughout the whole of Shansi and the greater part of Chihli, lionan, and Shensi failed. Refugees poured down to the coast, and one Consular report states that in one famine camp it was not an uncommon event for from four hundred to six hundred persons to die in a single night. The famine-stricken people stripped the bark off the trees for food, killed their beasts of burden, and in some cases resorted to cannibalism. So many were the dead that not infrequently they were buried uncofhned in pits. Strenuous efforts were made to send supplies to the interior, birt to the most afflicted areas there were no water- ways and only the roughest mountain roads. Along these 1 Two unmarried ladies of the American Presbyterian Mission started work at Sayow, a village about loo miles from Tungchow in Shantung, in 1870. 124 THE SECOND DECADE the most frightful disorder reigned. Broken carts, scattered grain bags, dying men and animals often blocked the way, and the boldness of the wolves told too plainly some of the terrors of the story. So far as reliable records are known, no such appalling calamity has fallen upon any country, and varying estimates state that from nine to thirteen million people died. To alleviate in some small measure the terrible distress, nearly half a million dollars were contributed from abroad, either through commercial or missionary channels : Some thirty Protestant missionaries volunteered for famine relief work, of whom four died. A number of Roman Catholic missionaries also assisted. In Shansi Timothy Richard of the B.M.S., David Hill of the W.M.S., Turner of the C.LM., MTlvaine and Whiting, both of the A.P.M., laboured, the last of whom soon died of famine fever. ^ At first the Chinese authorities were hostile to the thought of famine relief, but through the influence of the Grand Secretary, Li Hung-chang, and H.E. Tseng Kwo-chuan, the Governor of Shansi, this difficulty v/as overcome locally, though in other provinces the officials positively refused the assistance actually brought to them. In Taiyuanfu Dr. Timothy Richard began to interest himself in the orphans, and with the Governor's approval commenced systematic relief work among these children and the widows. By September 1878 as many as 744 names were enrolled under the superintendency of Mr. Turner, and by January 1879 the numbers had risen to 822 orphans and 334 widows and aged persons. The needs of the destitute children early burdened Mr. Taylor's heart, and though he had only arrived in England at the close of December 1877, after an absence from wife and children of over fifteen months, he contemplated, if possible, a speedy return to China to organize some special work. As circumstances, however, prevented this, early in the new year he proposed to Mrs. Taylor that possibly she might go 1 The Chinese Governor offered a handsome gift towards sending Mr. Whiting's body home, but when he found the foreigners preferred to bury their friend locally, he gave a piece of land outside the city of Taiyuanfu for a foreign cemetery. PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 125 out for this purpose. Such a suggestion, so soon after they had been reunited, came as a painful shock at first, and in some perplexity of mind she determined to seek from God some " Gideon's fleece " to confirm her in her duty. There were three things necessary ere she could possibly sail for China : her outfit, her passage money, and some provision for her children. She therefore asked God that if it were His will that she should go. He would send her two separate gifts of money, one for her outfit, and another sum of £50, neither more nor less, for her passage expenses, and also that God w^ould guide to some satisfactory arrangement for the children. The two gifts for outfit and passage w^ere received just as asked, but there was the far more important matter of the children's welfare. Mrs. Broomhall, her sister-in-law, was at this time away from London, but hearing from her husband that Mrs. Taylor thought of going out to China to care for the orphans, she said aloud to her sister, Avith whom she was staying, " If Jenny is called to go to China, then I am called to care for her children." Upon returning to London, she made the offer, although she had ten children of her own, and remembers to this day the awe with which she reahzed, when Mrs. Taylor replied, " Then that settles it," that her decision had such momentous consequences. The decision thus made was strikingly confirmed by the arrival of a thousand pounds while the Valedictory Com- munion Service was being held. In a note accompanying this handsome donation, the donor wrote : Please enter it anonymously. It does not represent any super- abundance of wealth, as my business affairs will miss it. But if you, for Christ's sake, can separate, I cannot give less than this. With these tokens of God's favour, on May 2, 1878, Mrs. Hudson Taylor, with a party of seven new workers, among whom we may mention Messrs. Dorward and Samuel Clarke, bade farewell to their loved ones at home. On reaching China, Mrs. Taylor was joined by Miss Home and Miss Crickmay, both of whom had been about two years in the field, and under the able escort of ]\Ir. Bailer, Taiyuanfu, the capital of Shansi, was reached on 126 THE SECOND DECADE October 23. This was the first time that missionary ladies had travelled so far from a Treaty Port. They were soon followed by two other ladies, by Mrs. James in November and by Mrs. Timothy Richard shortly afterwards, both of whom came with their husbands when they were returning to the province. No trouble was experienced in renting premises, and a number of girls were received by the ladies, and Dr. Richard formed some destitute boys into a school. The work among these orphans and refugees proved for several reasons more difficult than had been anticipated, and was subsequently abandoned for more ordinary methods. But the work with all its difficulties had not been in vain. The Chinese Ambas- sador at the Mansion House in London paid a warm tribute to the charity and tenderness which had been manifested in the relief given, the influence of which, he said, would be per- manent and do far more than pohtical action ever could do to ingratiate the foreigner in the esteem and regard of the Chinese. But apart altogether from the immediate results of the work done, the fact that it had been proved that there was no insuperable obstacle in the way of lad}^ missionaries residing in Inland China was in itself a subject of great rejoicing. " None but those/' wrote Mr. Taylor^ " who know what it is personally to pray and wait and watch for months, and it may be for years, for the opening of hearts closed against Christ, or of doors closed to the Gospel, can fully sympathize with the joy with which we have announced from time to time the opening of province after province, first to itineration, and then, in the case of some, to localized efforts. But if such was our joy when our brethren were able to go so far inland, what grateful thanks are due to God as we record the safe arrival of our first party of missionary sisters at the capital of one of the nine so lately unevangelized provinces." The neighbouring province of Shensi was the next one to be entered by lady workers. Early in the summer of 1879 Mr. George King, who had been pioneering in the far north- west, was married to Miss) Emily Snow, and towards the end of August the newly married couple commenced their long journey up the Han river, with Kansu in view. Hanchungfu, PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 127 a most important prefectural city in Shensi, having many large and well-populated villages around it, was reached in November, after a safe and quick journey. As this cit}^ appeared a most inviting centre for work, and a good half- way station for Tsinchow Kansu, whither they hoped to go in the spring, Mr. King determined to attempt to rent premises. The opposition of a Hunan military mandarin at first threatened to frustrate this project, but when this official recognized the foreign visitor as one whom he had met before at Sianfu, his opposition gave place to a friendship which proved invaluable and helpful. With Hanchungfu opened, Miss Wilson, a lady in middle life who at her own charges had joined the Mission four years previously, and Miss Faussett, on March i, 1880, set out from Wuchang, accompanied only by two Chinese Christians, with the intention of holding the fort a,t Hanchungfu, while Mr. and Mrs. King w^ent forw^ard to Kansu. This journey of a thousand miles was a particularly courageous under- taking, and was fully justified by the results, for with no other contretemps but the carrying off of some of their wearing apparel by thieves, Hanchungfu was safely reached on Frida}^ May 21. Mr. and Mrs. King did not go forward as expected, for a most encouraging work had already begun to spring up. As early as the last Sunday in August 1880 three Christians were set apart as Deacons, two of these being the converts from Wuchang who had accompanied the ladies. Five new members were received on the same occasion, and by the close of the year the Church m.ember- ship had risen to thirty. This was certainly rapid progress, but that it w^as not hasty is proved by the fact that j\Ir. Easton, writing as late as 1907, after many years' residence at the same station, said : Many of these converts are standing to-day and have become our best Christians ; some of them are the Elders and Deacons of the Church now. The two single ladies early ventured out into the surround- ing towns and villages of this populous region and reported that "nothing could be kinder than our reception every- 128 THE SECOND DECADE where." But upon this flourishing station the shadow of u great sorrow was soon to fall, for in May 1881 Mrs. King died of typhus fever. Short as had been her ministry, to her had been given the privilege of being the first foreign woman to enter Shensi, and the first to lay down her life on behalf of its evangelization. Strict chronological order would require that we should now turn our thoughts to another part of China, but before doing so we will conclude the story of these north-western provinces. On May 3, 1880, little more than a fortnight before the Misses Wilson and Faussett had reached Hanchungfu, Mr. and Mrs. George Parker left Hankow with the far north-west in view. Much time was spent upon this journey in temporary work at several centres, and then, after a brief stay at Hanchungfu, they set forward once again, accompanied this time by Miss Wilson. In January 1881 Tsinchow in Kansu was reached, and here the travellers made their home. We have thus briefly followed the way in which the three northern provinces of Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu had been entered and permanently occupied by lady workers. It was only in the autumn of 1876 that six young men pioneers had set out to visit for the first time these then unoccupied provinces ; yet by the first month of 1881 four stations had been opened with seventeen resident workers. Each province now had a resident married missionary, and the other workers were seven men and four single ladies. In the schools established there were more than seventy boarders, apart from day scholars, while from sixty to seventy converts had professed their faith in Christ, though all of these had not been baptized. It is now time to follow the progress of events as they concern the w^estern provinces, and to do this we must go back to the autumn of 1879. Not long after Mr. and Mrs. King had left Hankow for Shensi, two newly married couples, Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke and Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll, left for the far west, travelling by boat up the Yangtze Gorges as far PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 129 as Chungking. This journey, trying to the nerve under the best conditions, was not free from mishap. As has so frequently happened, the boat was holed upon a rock, and the travellers experienced the discomforts of an impromptu camp life upon the banks of the river in rainy weather and with soaked goods. Chungking, however, was reached in January 1880, and here Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll entered upon settled station life, while Mr. and Mrs. Clarke went forward overland to Kweiyang. This latter city was reached in February, after a journey which proved more trying to Mrs. Clarke than the boat journey, through the carelessness of the chair-bearers when travelling over the precipitous mountain roads. Thus for the first time lady workers entered and settled in the provinces of Szechwan and Kweichow. Such pioneering work for ladies had trials far greater than those connected with the discomforts and possible dangers of travelling. It involved distant separation from the com- panionship of their own country-women — Mrs. Nicoll, for instance, never saw a foreign sister for two full years — and separation from all medical help, however urgent the need ; there was also close contact with the evils of heathenism, and frequently the weariness inseparable from the curiosity of the people among whom they dwelt. At Chungking, for instance, the Chinese women simply flocked to see their foreign sister. When the Chinese New Year set in the Mission premises were fairly besieged, there being as many as five hundred women visitors in a day. While Messrs. Nicoll, Riley, and S. Clarke assisted each other in receiving the men in the front of the house, Mrs. Nicoll single-handed had to do her part of the hospitality elsewhere. For months these visitors came by hundreds, until the workers felt it to be hke living in a continuous fair. Yet this was what they had gone for, and, though exhausting and trying to patience, it was in this way that suspicion was to be disarmed and friendly relationships established, which were necessary prehminaries to the successful preaching of the Gospel. Within a few days of Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke reaching the city of Kweichow, Mrs. William McCarthy and Miss Kidd, 130 THE SECOND DECADE escorted by Messrs F. W. Bailer and Trench, set out from Wuchang for the same province, travelling, however, across Hunan instead of up the Yangtze. In the light of all that has subsequently happened, this journey of ladies through Hunan may appear as almost too serious an undertaking, but in those days all work in the interior was looked upon as serious. During this journey thirty-three days were spent in Hunan, when many opportunities were obtained for telling the Gospel story to some of the Hunanese women. At some places where the ladies landed — ^for the journey was by boat — ^they were received with great kindness, and the women pressed around them in the most friendly manner. There is little doubt that but for the opposition of the officials, and chiefly of the literati, such friendly receptions would have been more general in Hunan and throughout China. The only trouble experienced on this journey was occasioned by the boat twice running on the rocks, but none the less Kweiyang was safety reached on April 27, 1880, and soon an encouraging work among the women was reported. In March of the following year ladies again travelled through Hunan. Upon this occasion the boat was badly wrecked at one of the rapids, and the whole party, including the two ladies, Mrs. Broumton and Miss Kerr, had to reside for a full fortnight on Hunan soil. Concerning this ex- perience. Miss Kerr, who was a trained nurse and gave some medical assistance to those who came, wrote : The women used to come to me early in the morning and late at night. ... I could go out alone as far as I liked to walk, and be afraid of nothing. . . . The whole village turned out to see us start, and I felt like leaving home when I bade the women good-bye. And yet nearly twenty years were to elapse ere this province was to be opened for settled work either by men or women. With the arrival of these reinforcements for Kweichow, Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke felt free to turn their thoughts towards Yunnan, and when God took from them their little son, they triumphed over their sorrow, and determined to PIONEERS IN WOMEN'S WORK 131 make use of this freedom from home responsibilities and go forward to the unknown. Their journey was commenced on May 16, 1881, and after having traversed the greater part of Yunnan, Tahfu wa.s reached on June 27. Here they settled, feeling peculiarly cast upon the Lord, since the difficulties of communication with the coast from that distant outpost were neither few nor easily overcome. Here Mrs. Clarke laid dowTi her life som^e two years later, leaving a little babe six weeks old, far from all medical aid and without having seen a European sister for more than two years. Painful and trying as were the experiences of not a few during these early days, the workers rejoiced to know that however far they might be from human companionship, they were as near to the Throne of Christ as they would have been at home ; yea, nearer, if they were where God had guided them. We have now rapidly followed the story of the entry by women workers, into seven out of the nine unoccupied provinces. The only remaining one in which the C.I.M. was privileged to be the pioneer in this work was Honan. Itinerant work, it will be remembered, had commenced here in 1875, but Honan was to prove one of the hardest provinces to settle in, and Kaifeng, its capital, was indeed the last capital opened to the Gospel, Changsha, the capital of Hunan, not excepted. In October 1881 Mr. Henry Hunt, who had been quietly residing at Runingfu for about a year, was married to Miss Smalley, and together they returned to Honan. Runingfu was reached on Christmas Eve, and those who know any- thing of the curiosity of the Honanese in the early days w411 readily believe that Christmas Day was no holiday to this young bride. Crowds simply flocked to see the foreign lady, and patience and strength were taxed to their utmost. The prospects of a settlement, however, seemed not unhopeful. Proclamations were put out by the officials stating that the foreigners were not to be disturbed so long as they made no attempt to purchase either land or houses ; but disappoint- ment was not far away, for in the following February, owing 132 THE SECOND DECADE to the uprising of a secret society called the White Lotus Sect, these workers were compelled to retire, and more than two years were to elapse ere a settled station in Honan was to be obtained. With this brief residence in Honan we must conclude our story of the Pioneers in Women's Work, which story began in the autumn of 1878 and now closes in the early months of 1882. During this period eight of the nine formerly unoccupied provinces had been visited by lady pioneers, and in all of them, with the exception of Hunan and Honan, a permanent settlement had been obtained and women's work commenced. SUMMARY OF EARLY JOURNEYS Women Shansi. Mrs. Hudson Taylor, Miss Home, and Miss Crickmay reach Taiyuanfu, October 23, 1878. Sliensi. Mr. and Mrs. George King settle at Hanchung, November 1879. Misses Wilson and Faussett reach Hanchung, May 21, 1880. Kansu. Mr. and Mrs. George Parker and Miss Wilson settle at Tsinchow, January 1881. Szechwan. Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll and Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke reach Chungking, January 1880. Kweichow. Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke settle at Kweiyang, Feb. 1880. Mrs. Wm. M'Carthy and Miss Kidd, escorted by Messrs. F. W. Bailer and Trench, reach Kweiyang, April 27, 1880. Hunan. Mrs. Wm. M'Carthy and Miss Kidd travel through Hunan^ March 1880. Mrs. Broumton (before her second marriage Mrs. Wm. M'Carthy) and Miss Kerr travel through and reside for a fortnight in Hunan, March 1881, en route to Kweichow. Yunnan. Mr. and Mrs. George Clarke settle at TaUfu, June 27, 1881. Honan. Mr, and Mrs. Henry Hunt temporarily reside at Runingfu, October 1881. Anhwei. Mr. and Mrs. Meadows settle at Anking in 1869. XX BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE On Monday February 24, 1879, Mr. Hudson Taylor, after having, as already recorded, more fully arranged for the carrying on of the work at home, left once again the shores of England for China. On his way to join the French mail, he held meetings by request at Amsterdam and Marseilles, the C.I.M. thus becoming known for the first time on the Continent where in later years so many Associate Missions were to be formed. Marseilles was left on March 9. The party consisted of Mr. Taylor, Messrs Pigott, Coulthard, Hunnex, Henry Hunt, and Mr. and Mrs. Wilham McCarthy. Shanghai was reached on April 22, but so seriously ill had Mr. Taylor been on the voyage and after arrival that he was strongly urged by several physicians, if he would not return home again, to see what Chef 00 would do for his health. In consequence of this advice, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor — for Mrs. Taylor had come down from Taiyuanfu to meet her husband — accompanied by Mr. Coulthard, started for the north without delay. Chef 00 was reached on Thurs- day morning, May 8, where Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Ballard of H.I.M. Customs most kindly entertained the party. The improvement in health which immediately followed led Mr. Taylor to decide to invite a number of the workers on the Yangtze to come to Chef 00 for a change. A yard, with two small buildings and a go-down, was rented from May 26, 1879, and under somewhat camping conditions of Hfe not a few workers were much refreshed by a brief stay at this invigorating seaside port. 133 134 THE SECOND DECADE The value of Chefoo as a site for a Sanatorium at once became evident, and in the autumn Mr. Taylor was enabled to purchase land at a good distance from the foreign settle- ment, where Mr. Judd superintended the building of a house which he and his family subsequently occupied. Before proceeding with further buildings, Mr. Taylor was desirous of seeing of what nature the sea coast was south of the Shantung promontory, and so on December lo he and Mr. Coulthard left Chefoo by an overland route, and journeyed south, reaching Yangchow early in January 1880. The coast south of the promontory did not commend itself to Mr. Taylor, and consequently Chefoo was decided upon as the best place for the Sanatorium. This building was commenced the same year, and it was subsequently estimated that the entire cost was covered by the saving in passages to Europe which would have been necessary during the next five years but for the benefit gained by the workers at Chefoo. Early in the year 1881 Mr. W. L. Elliston, a quahfied teacher who had been taken ill while engaged in evangehstic work in Shansi, came to Chefoo for medical treatment, and Mr. Taylor, who was also at Chefoo, suggested to him that he might make good use of his time and talents by teaching Mr. Judd's children. To this he consented, and a School was commenced with two scholars in a little room about twelve feet square. At this time there was no School in China for European children, save one conducted by the Jesuits in Shanghai, and applications soon began to arrive from all parts of China from parents who were anxious for their children to be educated under Protestant influences. The original idea of the School, therefore, soon expanded itself, and in Chinas Millions for August 1881 Mr. Taylor wrote : Among the various works we are proposing is that of a School for the children of missionaries and other foreign residents in China, and we trust that through it the trial and expense of sending children home from China may in many cases be saved. Mr. W. L. Elliston has already made a commencement; and the number of pupils is about BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE 135 twelve, with every prospect of increase. We are also hoping shortly to see a Dispensary and probably a Hospital commenced there. By April 1882, when Mr. Douthwaite reached Chefoo, there were fourteen boys and girls in the School, and a new building was in course of erection. In the following year more land was purchased and a separate School for the boys was erected. In following these developments at Chefoo, we have already reached a point somewhat in advance of our story elsewhere, for the plans laid down for these separate Schools at Chefoo were made in faith, in view of the decision arrived at in November 1881, to pray for seventy additional workers. The logical sequence to such a prayer would naturally be that more accommodation for the education of missionaries' children would be needed. Here, however, w^e must for the present leave the story of what is one of the most noteworthy developments of the Mission. Few questions more seriously exercise the hearts and minds of missionaries than the arrangements necessary for the education of their children. In Chefoo God has led to an arrangement which involves the minimum of separation both in distance and in time, and to a method whereby the children are always under a sympathetic and Christian in- fluence, since all the teachers are m.embers of the Mission. The Schools and Sanatorium at Chefoo, the outcome first of Mr. Taylor's serious condition physically, and subse- quently of Mr. Elliston's illness, illustrate how God can and does make all things, even adversity, work together for good, so that the darkness and trial may become His guiding pillar of cloud.i 1 Schools continued in Chapter XXXIV. p. 225. XXI A CHINESE PIONEER In all the pioneering journeys already recorded, the foreign missionaries, whether men or women, had been greatly indebted to the assistance and companionship of the Chinese Christians who accompanied them. The names of these men have not always been recorded, but it is only right that their services should be remembered. Though travelling in their own country, they have, equally with the missionary, endured hardness by the way, and not infrequently have had to face the contempt of their fellow-men in ways which would little affect the foreign worker. In this chapter we purpose briefly to relate the story of one Chinese Christian, who, as the pioneer of a remarkable work on the Kwangsin River, may be looked upon as typical of many others who have engaged in aggressive evangelistic work among their own people. Towards the close of the Taiping Rebellion, in the year i860, a military official named Yii Yuh-shan was stationed for a short time in the city of Ningpo, in command of a com- pany of Imperial troops. He was an unusually thoughtful man, deeply interested in spiritual affairs, and " by heavenly chance express " happened one day to hear a foreign mis- sionary preach the Gospel. Though no immediate fruit followed this brief hearing of the Message of Life, the good seed lay dormant in his heart for years. Meanwhile the Imperial troops were disbanded, and Captain Yii, hearing of a sect of reformed Buddhists opposed to idolatry, joined them. Possessed of a tine missionary spirit, he received 136 A CHINESE PIONEER 137 permission from the leaders of this sect to go forth as their accredited agent. Without salary or pecuniary aid, he travelled from house to house and village to village, de- nouncing the sin of idolatry and proclaiming the existence of One Supreme but unknown Ruler over heaven and earth. Through the persuasive earnestness of this man thousands enrolled their names as converts in the provinces of Chekiang and Kiangsi. In 1875 Dr. Douthwaite received an urgent request from a Chinese Christian to open a preaching-hall in the city of Kinhwafu. On two previous occasions missionaries had been turned out of this city, and the Doctor was not over- sanguine of success. Accompanied, however, by two Chinese evangelists and Pastor Wang Lae-djun, he set forth, and after a few days' delay successfully rented a house in the city. The news of the foreigner's arrival speedily spread, and among those who came to see him was Captain Yii, who had not forgotten the words he had heard at Ningpo fifteen years before from some unknown messenger of the Gospel. He became an earnest student of the Word, and after about a year's study and inquiry, this zealous Buddhist applied for baptism, and was with several others baptized by Pastor Wang. Several months later he was taken ill, and came to the city of Chiichowfu to spend a few weeks under Dr. Douthwaite's care. Ere this short visit had finished, he asked that he might be allowed to go forward as a preacher of the Gospel. " I well remember/' wrote Dr. Douthwaite in the booklet from which this story is taken^ " how after we had been reading the Scriptures and praying together, he earnestly entreated me to let him go, saying, ' I have led hundreds on the wrong road, and now I want to lead them to the Way of Truth. Let me go ; I ask no wages, nor do I want any of your money ; I only want to serve Jesus.' " Permission, of course, was gladly given, and after being commended to God in prayer by the httle band of Christians who formed the nucleus of the Church at Chiichowfu, he packed up his bundle of bedding, and set forth on his journey over the border into the neighbouring province of 138 THE SECOND DECADE Kiangsi. Three weeks later he returned, bringing with him an old farmer, Yii Liang-shih, one of his former converts to the reformed Buddhist faith, a man who for more than forty years had been seeking the truth. This new convert, ere he returned home, asked for baptism, and argued so earnestly against any delay, on account of his age, that Dr. Douthwaite, after some hesitation, yielded to his request. The day following his baptism he set out for his home, and so faith- fully and effectually did he witness for Christ that six weeks later he returned with six men who, like himself, had been earnest seekers for the truth. These inquirers Dr. and Mrs. Douthwaite gladly welcomed, and a year later the Doctor had the joy of baptizing them in addition to nine others — including several women — who had been led to trust in Christ through their testimony and changed manner of hfe. Meanwhile Captain Yii had continued his work elsewhere, and one of his converts was a young farmer named Tung of Taiyang, near the city of Yiishan. When Dr. Douthwaite visited this village, some months later, he was astonished to find the courtyard of Farmer Tung's house filled with men and women all seated in regular order on stools, chairs, baskets, inverted buckets, etc., quietly waiting for him to come and address them. Turning to the farmer, he asked him how he had contrived to gather so many people together at such short notice, and was still more surprised to learn that it was their regular custom to meet thus every evening, to sing hymns and listen to the reading of the Scriptures. During the year which followed this interesting visit to Taiyang, Dr. Douthwaite baptized fifteen converts from that village, and an equal number from other villages in the same district — all the fruit of the labours of Captain Yii and Farmer Tung. In this obscure village, on the eastern border of Kiangsi, the first Christian Church in the Kwangsin River district was organized. Subsequently a house was rented in the city of Yiishan, which was made the centre of missionary effort in that district, and preaching-halls were soon opened in other places. A CHINESE PIONEER 139 Through failure of health Dr. Douthwaite was compelled, in 1880, to relinquish the work at Chiichowfu, and after a brief period of service at Wenchow he removed to the more bracing climate of Chefoo in 1882, where the memory of his faithful and loving ser\7ice is still fresh and fragrant. Captain Yii has also long since gone to his reward, but the seed he sowed in Eastern Kiangsi is still springing up and bearing fruit. During the summer of 1880, Mr. Hudson Taylor and Mr. Coulthard, after the journey south from Chefoo, when the southern coast of the Shantung promontory/ was pro- spected, visited the C.I.M. stations in eight of the eleven prefectures of Chekiang, this journey being broken by a brief visit to Shanghai in June to welcome Dr. and Mrs. Schofield. From Chiichowfu Mr. Taylor and Mr. Coulthard, accompanied by Mr. Randle, who had succeeded Dr. Douth- waite as missionary-in-charge of that station, crossed the border of the province and entered Kiangsi, where the work originated by Captain Yii had sprang up. After an interesting visit to the city of Yiishan, the party proceeded down the Kwangsin River. From Hokow Mr. Randle returned to his station, while the other two secured passages on a large cargo boat and continued their journey. At this time Hokow and Kweiki were the only other places on this river open to missionary effort, and these were in the care of Chinese evangelists supervised by Mr. Car dwell, who was then residing at Takutang on the Poyang Lake. The evangelists at these out-stations were greatly cheered by this visit from Mr. Taylor, for Mr. Cardwell had been hindered by family circumstances from visiting them as frequently as he desired. When Takutang was reached, the needs of the new work on the Kwangsin River were carefully and prayerfulty discussed, and it was decided that as Hokow was nearer to Chiichowiu than to Takutang, Mr. Randle should in the future be made responsible for that work, while Kweiki still remained under the charge of Mr. Cardwell. Under these arrangements the work in these districts continued for the next five or six years, until in the spring of 1886 Mr. Hudson Taylor, in company with Miss Murray 140 THE SECOND DECADE and other workers, undertook another journey dowTi the same river, which journey inaugurated that special Women's Work with which this district is now^ inseparably associated, the story of which, however, must be postponed to a future chapter.^ 1 Continued in Chapter XXVII. p. 176. XXII HEALING THE SICK Medical work has been the missionary's unofficial passport in many lands, and in none more so than in China. Even Dr. Morrison, immersed as he was in literary work, assisted by two doctors connected with the East India Company, undertook something in the way of dispensary work. In 1834, "the year that Morrison died. Dr. Peter Parker of the American Board landed at Canton, and during the follow- ing year opened the first Mission Hospital in China. In 1839, Dr. Lockhart of the L.M.S., the first medical missionary from England to China, commenced work at Macao, being joined by Dr. Hobson later in the year. The dual commission of our Lord, " Preach the Gospel ; heal the sick," early impressed Mr. Taylor and directed the line of his studies ere he first sailed for China. Both at Ningpo and afterwards at Hangchow, as his time and strength allowed, he devoted himself to medical work, and his qualifications as a doctor were an almost indispensable part of his equipment as the founder and leader of a young Mission, which for many years had no other medical man within its ranks. Incidentally we have already mentioned his labours as medical helper and adviser to the members of the Mission in the early days. But even in later years, though burdened with the complex responsibilities of a large Mission, not a few experienced his kindly ministrations in times of sickness. Mr. Harvey, who joined the Mission in 1869, temporarily retired after three years' service in the field, that he might 141 142 THE SECOND DECADE qualify himself for medical work. In February 1876, after having completed his medical training, Dr. Harvey with his wife sailed from Glasgow to start a Medical Mission at Bhamo. This work was carried on for some time, but owing to the failure of Dr. Harvey's health, and the shock sustained in a subsequent shipwreck when he and wife were seeking change, both had to retire from the field. Dr. Douthwaite, whose first interest in China was aroused by the review of a booklet written by Mr. Meadows when at home on furlough, went out in 1874, and though not then fully qualified, he soon distinguished himself by his gifts as a surgeon and physician. In his first year at Wenchow, he treated more than four thousand patients. In April 1882 Dr. Douthwaite commenced at Chef 00 the chief work by which he will be remembered. For a brief period in 1884, as soon as Korea opened its doors, he crossed over and laboured for a while in that Hermit Kingdom, which has of late so wondrously responded to the message of the Gospel. After a well-earned furlough, when he com- pleted his medical course, he returned to Chefoo in 1886, and laboured there with noteworthy success and acceptance until -his much-lamented death on October 5, 1899, The story of these latter years cannot be told here, for we must retrace our steps to the year 1880, when Dr. Harold Schofield joined the Mission, for with him the Mission's medical work passed from a tentative to a permanent basis. The need of medical m.en in China had been so keenly felt by the Mission that the London Council in 1879, when Mr. Taylor was present, resolved to assist any really suitable medical candidates in their training, and Mr. Taylor attempted, though unsuccessfully, to secure from one of the leading hospitals in London a special reduction of fees for missionary students. The offer of so well qualified a man as Dr. Harold Schofield, coming at this time, was therefore a marked answer to prayer. Robert Harold Ains worth Schofield was born in 1851, and had had an unusually brilliant course at Oxford and London, yet withal was a man of most humble spirit. Dr. A. T. Schofield, his brother and biographer, relates how he HEALING THE SICK 143 came across two small private papers which illuminate the character of the writer. On one of these Dr. Harold Schofield had written for his wife's eye only a list of his scholarships, which amounted to over £1400. The other was a torn piece of notepaper, inserted in a portfolio con- taining over forty certificates of honour from the Victoria Universitj/ ; certificates of the London University showing that he was first in the Honours List in Zoology, third in Honours in Geology, Palaeontology and Classics, and also containing all his numerous diplomas. On this slip was written : " God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." Such was the man who, crowned with the degrees and honours of Oxford and London, counted it the greatest honour of his life to lay all these at the feet of Jesus Christ, tha-t he might be His servant in China. Dr. and Mrs. Schofield, with Mr. R. J. Landale,^ also an Oxford man, sailed for China, via America, on April 7, 1880, the Doctor and his wife reaching Shanghai on June 30, and Mr. Landale some days earlier. Dr. and Mrs. Schofield, after a brief period of study at Chef 00, left for Taiyuanfu at the end of October, Mr. and Mrs. Landale following them early the next year. At that time there were only two stations in Shansi : Taiyuanfu, the capital, and Pingyangfu in the south of the province. Dr. Schofield, who had previously had charge of a hospital during the war between Turkey and Servia, and had served in a like capacity in the conflict between Turkey and Russia, soon commenced work in Taiyuanfu. At first he wisely limited his medical work to two days a week, so as to reserve the remaining time for the study of the language, but even thus he treated over fifteen hundred different out- patients and between forty and fifty in-patients during his first year. During the following year these figures had more than doubled, for 3247 different patients visited the hospital, the total attendance being 6571, of whom 1174 were women. As he was brought into closer contact with these patients 1 Mr, Landale had been in China before as an independent worker associated with the Mission. 144 THE SECOND DECADE the needs of China increasingly impressed him, and in February 1883 he issued an appeal for medical missionaries for the interior of China. " It is little more than two years/' he wrote^ " since I began medical work in this inland city, which is more than three hundred miles (fourteen days' journey) from the nearest Treaty Port, but the vast and crying need for more labourers constrains me to publish this appeal. . . . Surely closely in the wake of the widely extended itinera- tions, which have been taken in all parts of the Empire, should follow the setthng down of medical missionaries at least in the capital of every province, and if possible' in some of the largest county towns as well. " Most earnestly would I beg every Christian reader possessed of competent medical knowledge, or who has the means of acquiring it, to pray constantly for a blessing on medical mission work in this land, and further to consider whether God is not calling him to devote his medical knowledge and skill to the relief of the sick and suffering in China, with the avowed object of bringing the light of the Gospel to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. There is an immense field and great need for lady medical missionaries, thoroughly qualified, to practise their profession, and yet no English Mission in China as yet numbers such workers among its ranks." This appeal was dated Taiyuanfu, February 7, 1883. Ere another six months had passed the writer of it had finished his brief career and passed to his reward, for on August I, 1883, Dr. Schofield died of typhus fever, con- tracted from a patient who was surreptitiously admitted by the gate-keeper into a private room without the doctor's knowledge. In accordance with his own request, made shortly before his death, the following text and verse of a hymn were placed upon his memorial card : A little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. A little while for winning souls to Jesus, Ere we behold His beauty face to face. A little while for healing souls' diseases, By telling others of a Saviour's Grace. Though Dr. Schofield was only permitted to give a little more than three years of his life to the mission field — nearly the same space of time as that which compassed our Saviour's HEALING THE SICK 145 ministry on earth — we cannot and dare not measure life by our imperfect measurement of time. Some of the briefest hves upon the mission field, such as those of Henry Martyn, Ion Keith Falconer, and Bishop Hannington, have been the most fruitful in their influence upon others, and Dr. Schofield's life will ever remain a reminder that earthly honours and emoluments are as nothing to the glory of serving Christ " by telHng others of a Saviour's Grace." In the year preceding Dr. Schofield's Home-call two new medical men had joined the Mission — Dr. William Wilson and Dr. E. H. Edwards. The former of these was appointed 'to Hanchungfu in Shensi, where for many years he carried on an important medical mission. Dr. Edwards, who was at first designated to and proceeded to west China, was asked to succeed Dr. Schofield and carry on the work which had been so ably and successfully commenced. This work continues to this day, though it was subsequently worked for a time as an Independent Mission under the name of the Sheoyang Mission, and then when all the workers, with the exception of Dr. and Mrs. Edwards who were at home on furlough, had been killed in the Boxer crisis, the work was transferred to the care of the Baptist Missionary Society.^ ^ The story of medical work is continued in Chapter XLIV. p. 296. XXIII PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN During the same year in which Dr. Schofield reached China, renewed efforts were made to settle in Hunan. This province, with its population of twenty-two milhons of the most virile of the Chinese race, was the last one to be opened to the Gospel. The story of those who by earnest and importunate prayer and with undaunted courage laboured for more than twenty years for the opening of this province, is full of inspiration and suggestive lessons. The work of the C.I.M. in Hunan commenced in 1875,^ when Mr. C. H. Judd rented premises in the city of Yochow, as recorded on p. 102. We have also elsewhere followed the journeys of several parties of pioneer workers, both men and women, who travelled through the province on their way to regions beyond. It was not, however, until the year 1880 that continuous and persistent efforts were made to gain an entrance into the province, and these will always be associated with the name of Adam Dorward, who for eight years con- centrated his sole attention on the evangelization of this attractive yet hostile region. Adam Dorward was born and brought up in comfortable circumstances in the border town of Galashiels, and forsook tempting prospects of life at home for the arduous calling of a pioneer. He sailed for China on May 2, 1878, and early 1 The first Protestant missionary to enter Hunan was the Rev. Josiah Cox of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. A recently discovered letter shows that he made a journey into the province in May 1863, but apart from this journey that Society was unable to do any more for Hunan during the next thirty years. 146 PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN 147 expressed a desire to face the difficulties and dangers of work on the borders of, or if possible within, the closed land of Tibet. After spending more than two years in study and preparatory work in the province of Anhwei, he gladly accepted the closed province of Hunan as a more approxi- mate and pressing problem than the distant borderlands of the Empire. Here for the remaining eight years of his life, amid unrecorded hardships and almost overwhelming dis- couragements, he devoted the strength of his fine manhood to what has unquestionably been the hardest initial task Missions have had to face in China. His first journey into Hunan commenced on October 18, 1880. This journey lasted five and a half months, and lay right across the province from north-east to south-west, as far as the city of Hungkiang, whence — after having re- plenished his supphes of money at Kweiyang — he returned overland by a route some two hundred miles long, through regions previously unvisited by any Protestant missionary. During this tour he was at times from five to six hundred miles from his base, and passed through some of the most southerly cities of the province, such as Wukangchow and Paokingfu, selhng by the way over thirteen thousand Scrip- tures and tracts. After a brief visit of a few days to Wuchang for consultation with Mr. Taylor, he set forth once more upon his strenuous toil. Again Kweiyang was visited, and, after six days' conference with his brethren there, he and his sturdy evangelist walked overland to Hungkiang, where ten days were spent in an unsuccessful attempt to secure premises. On July 26, in the midst of the summer heat, this city was left and a number of other places visited, but what Dorward was able to endure proved too much for his coolies, and somewhat disappointed with the necessary alteration of his plans, he changed his overland route to one by water. At some of the places the Yamen authorities would not allow him to enter within the city gates, and even tried to prevent him selling books. He found, however, plenty of people in the suburbs, and in his reports spoke rather of the blessed privilege of being permitted to labour in these difficult regions than of his sufferings and trials. 148 THE SECOND DECADE Though Adam Dorward was not indifferent to the diffi- culties of his task, he rarely spoke of hardship. On the last day of the year 1881 he wrote : Joined in spirit with other members of the Mission and made this a special day of prayer. The year has passed as if it had been so many weeks instead of months, yet the changes and trials through which the Lord has led me have been very varied and somewhat extensive. Canny Scot as he was, he soon recognized that the easiest time to rent premises would be at the close of the Chinese old year, when some hard-pressed debtor would be needing money. He therefore left Paokingfu — where the official had prohibited the people, by proclamation, from buying or reading the foreign books — and reached Hungkiang again on January 21, 1882. Ere many days had passed he and his evangelist were rewarded with the possession of the desired premises. The wisdom which had guided him to select the close of the Chinese old year as the best time for renting premises, now suggested to him the advisability of absenting himself from the city for a few weeks. This he did, leaving the evangelist in charge, whilst he visited other centres which appeared to him of strategic importance for the opening of the province. On April 30, 1882, he wrote to Mr. Taylor from Shasi on the Yangtze, saying : If I could make myself into four, I think I would be distributed in this way : one to Shasi, one to Tsingshih, one to Changteh, and one to Hungkiang. Can you do anything to make up for my deficiency ? Was ever the need of, and locality for, reinforcements put more diplomatically ? After visiting a number of walled cities, and spending several days in each, he reached Hungkiang again on June 17, and settled into the premises, where in a quiet and un- obtrusive way he carried on his work for the next three and a half months. The rooms obtained were situated over an inn, and though well located were far from ideal as a summer residence. Writing in June, when the thermometer stood at 97 in the shade, he facetiously remarks : It is hard to say how high it may rise during July and August. Do not be surprised if you hear that we have been roasted alive and . . . ! PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN 149 As the autumn advanced it became evident that move- ments were on foot to eject him, so he again withdrew in October, leaving two faithful Chinese helpers, Yao and Li, to hold the fort. It was no small matter for praise that the premises had been already held for nine months, and that he himself had been able to reside there more than a third of this time. Especially, too, he rejoiced in the fact that six or seven persons had shown distinct interest in the Gospel, and that though many people had been suspicious, not a few made him complimentary presents when he left the city. The next six or eight months were given solely to itiner- ating, the province of Kwangsi being visited during this period. How much he felt the need of a companion will never be known, for he spoke little of himself, but upon one occasion when he heard of the prospects of a worker being sent alone to Kwangsi, he wrote : I hope he won't go there until he is able to have a companion with him. I have had a trial at travelling alone^ and I do not think it ought to be done when it can possibly be avoided. Jesus sent the twelve, and the seventy, two and two, and His way must surely be the best. Often during these journeys he had to sleep with his bed spread upon some straw on the floor, and during the period under review he had his head badly cut with a brick hurled at him when at Liuyanghsien. His only comment on these hardships was the following sentence : I hope, however, even such experiences may in some way glorify God. Upon one occasion, and only one, so far as the writer, after examining all his available correspondence, has ascer- tained, did this strong and hardy worker give vent to his pent-up feelings. " The noise in the inn this afternoon," he wrote, " has been deafen- ing. I long to be alone with God and have a time of quiet in the strictest sense of the word. Not only would I like to be permitted to spend a few days in a room by myself, but I would wish for wings that I might fly away to some uninhabited spot. I long more especially 150 THE SECOND DECADE to be separate from all the noises of sense and time, as well as to be apart from all the noises and distractions of this present world ; to be alone in solitude with God; so that with all my heart and mind occupied with Him only, I might in calmness and without distraction pour out my soul to Him and hear His voice speaking to me." With such desires it was natural that he should hope he might be able to settle in the premises rented at Hungkiang, and consequently he rejoiced when, at the conclusion of a journey of more than thirteen hundred miles, he reached that city once more on July 29, 1883. Here he found the two evangelists, one with his wife and family, quietly carry- ing on the work. Thankful even for the poor accommoda- tion, he yet recognized the need of better premises if the work was to be efhciently continued. So in an unostenta- tious way he sought to win the hearts of the people, and to secure a firm and better footing. August, September and October rolled on, every day full of its quiet ministry, until at length in November his negotiations for premises were rewarded, the desired house being mortgaged for a term of three years. All the arrangements were made quite openly and regularly ; the agreement was written by the landlord himself, and the house-deed, bearing the official stamp Hong- ki, was handed over. This was indeed matter for rejoicing, but what was more, the very week the deeds came into his possession he received a letter from Mr. Taylor stating that Mr. Dick had been appointed as his colleague. This was surely a confirmation from God, and with great thankfulness he poured out his heart in praise. His high hopes, however, were not to be realized, and in fact, though Dorward was spared to labour for five more years in the province, he was yet to die in faith, " not having received the promise,'' though he had seen it and greeted it from afar. On Thursday evening, December 13, Mr. Dorward's goods were removed from the old residence, which had now been held for nearly two years. The prayers of months and years seemed answered, but the first rumblings of the coming storm were soon heard. All Saturday and Sunday threats of violence were made, and by Monday evening no effort was spared to intimidate him, but Dorward was not the man to PIONEER WORK IN HUNAN 151 be easily moved. Nothing terrified, he stood his ground, arguing and parleying with the people, even after they had begun to break up the house. He was determined now the storm had broken to risk his life rather than yield the vantage gained so long as a vestige of hope remained. But there were other arguments more convincing than danger to himself. It soon became evident that not only would he suffer, but that the landlord and middle-men who had assisted him would be cruelly treated by the officials and people, so he sorrowfully decided to withdraw. " So far as my own person was concerned/' he wrote, " I would rather have died than yield, but I could not feel justified in causing others to suffer — perhaps more than I should — and on that account I was led to act as I did. I am not altogether discouraged, and I am ready to go back shortly, if God shows such a course to be His will." Thus terminated Dorward's noble efforts to effect a permanent settlement at Hungkiang. Though the time had not yet come for settled work in this province, it was no mean achievement to have held premises from January 1882 to December 1883, and that he himself had been able to reside in them from July 17 to October 1882, and from July 29 to December 17, 1883. With this enforced retirement from Hungkiang the C.I.M. work in Hunan entered upon a new stage. Thoughts of attempting work elsewhere in the province were enter- tained, but the war which broke out between France and China shortly afterwards made this impossible so long as hostilities continued. Even the missionaries in the interior of Kwangtung had to retire, so Dorward determined to open Shasi on the Yangtze, and if possible Tsingshih, a little way south of the northern border. Taking with him his long- tried evangelist Yao, he left Wuchang on February 26, 1884, and ere long secured premises in Shasi, where Mr. Dick joined him in August. Here for the present we must leave these w^orkers, simply calling attention to the accompanying list of all the walled cities of Hunan, and remarking that those which are italicized had been visited by Adam Dorward prior to July 1883. A mere glance at this list, 152 THE SECOND DECADE without further letterpress, will help the reader to realize the strenuous nature of Adam Dorward's work during these early years. ^ The Walled Cities of Hunan This list gives in alphabetical order all the chief walled cities of Hunan. Those italicized had been visited by Adam Dorward prior to July 1883. Anfu Kweiyanghsien Sinhwa Anhwa Lanshan Sinning Anjen Leiyang Sintien Ansiang Lichow Suining Chaling Liling Siipu Changning Ling Taochow Changsha Lingling Taoyiian Changteh Linsiang Tsingchow Chenchow Linwu Tsingtsiien Chengpu Liuyanghsien Tungan Chenki Luki Tungtao Chikiang Lungshanhsien Tzeli Fenghwangting Limgyang Wukangchow Hengchowfu Mayanghsien Wuling Hengshanhsien Ningsiang Yiyang Hengyang Ningyuanhsien Yochow Hingninghsien Paling Yuanghow Hwangchowting Paoking Yiiankianghsien Hwayung Paotsing Yiienling Hweitung Pingkiang Yuhsien Ichang Sangchih Yungchowfu Kiaho Shanhwa Yimghinghsien Kianghwa Shaoyang Yungming Kienchowting Shenchowfu Yungshun Kienyang Shihmen Yungshunfu Kiyang Siangsiang Yiingsui Kweitunghsien Siangtan Yungting Kweiyangchow Siangyin 1 Hunan story continued in Chapter XXXV. p. 230. XXIV THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY A LITTLE more than a month after Adam Dorward had set out for his first journey into Hunan, Messrs. J. W. Stevenson and Henry Soltau, who were stationed at Bhamo, started upon a noteworthy journey which w^as to prove how fully the doors were being flung open into inland China. Though Bhamo had been opened as a station with a view to the entry of China from the west, the workers resident there had been hitherto prohibited by the British representative from crossing the border, and Messrs. McCarthy and Cameron, who had crossed from China into Burma, had not been permitted to return the same way. During the year 1880, however, these prohibitions were in part removed in con- sequence of the cordial relations existing between Messrs. Stevenson and Soltau and the Kah-chens and the Chinese. In 1867-68 Major Sladen succeeded in crossing the hills through Burma into China and penetrated as far as Tengyueh. The next attempt to enter China from the west cost the valuable life of Augustus Margary in 1875. Nothing further was attempted or allowed until early in 1880, when Mr. Stevenson made an experimental journey across the frontier, travelling as far as Yungchang. Returning to Bhamo, he and Mr. Soltau started again on November 29 of the same year, and having entered China by another route, travelled right across the country, this being the first time China had been crossed from west to east. Wuchang was reached on March 25, 1881, after a journey of 1900 miles, in which, but for the self-possession and tact of the travellers, and the 153 154 THE SECOND DECADE faithful adhesion and skilful diplomacy of their Kah-chen friends, their lives, humanly speaking, would have been sacrificed. This journey served to emphasize two things — first, that China was being more and more opened to the Gospel, and second, that more stations and workers were sorely needed ; for during this journey of 117 days only two Mission centres had been passed, namely, Chungking and Ichang. Mr. Soltau, who had only laboured in Burma, wrote on February 22, 1881, after having been continuously travelling for nearly three months without the sight of a single place where the Gospel was being preached : With what true feelings of joy and thanksgiving to God did I look upon this house (in Chungking), the first mission station in China I have ever seen. Most delightful was it to grasp the hands of our fellow-Christians and fellow-countrymen after so many weary days (86) of travel, during which we had not met one Christian, Chinese or foreign. Such facts as these made it abundantly evident that what was needed, indeed, was not so much open doors as workers to enter where the doors had been opened. Itinerant journeys had been taken by single men in all of the un- occupied provinces ; stations had been opened in most of these, and missionaries' wives and even single ladies had settled there. ^ The Mission had in all about one hundred foreign workers, of whom twenty-nine were wives, located in some seventy stations or out-stations in eleven provinces. Such a small company was obviously insufficient to work the places already occupied, let alone to enter new and needy cities. All these things pointed to the conclusion that China was certainly opening, if not already open. " Were the Lord," wrote Mr. Taylor at this time, " to grant us double the number of workers and double the means, within twelve months we could have them all located and at work in needy districts among perishing men and women." 1 By the close of 1881 every city in Shensi had been visited by C.I.M. missionaries. The same was reported concerning every city in Shansi, except two among the hills. THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY 155 The value of all the itinerant work which had been done was warmly commented upon by Consul Charles Alabaster in his Report published and presented to Parliament in 1880.1 In this Report he wrote : You can travel through China as easily and safely as you can in Europe when and where you leave the main road. . . . This improved state of affairs is due to the fact that the natives are becoming more accustomed to the presence of foreigners among them, much of the credit of which belongs to the members of what is called the China Inland Mission. . . . Always on the move, the missionaries of this Society have travelled throughout the country, taking hardship and privation as the natural incidents of their profession. . . . They have managed to make friends everywhere, and while labouring in their special field as ministers of the Gospel, have accustomed the Chinese to the presence of foreigners among them. . . . While aiding the foreign merchants by obtaining information regarding the unknown interior of the country and strengthening our relations by increasing our intimacy with the people, this Mission has at the same time shown the true way of spreading Christianity in China. Such was the situation in November 1881, when a little company of missionaries gathered together at the central city of Wuchang, and with Mr. Taylor entered into con- ference concerning the advance of Christ's Kingdom. During these days of happy fellowship, this little band of some eight or nine workers felt increasingly confirmed in the principles on which the Mission was founded, so that with strengthened faith and a deepened sense of the needs of China they recog- nized more fully their responsibility to ask great things from God. Rising from their knees they said to one another, " What shall we ask ? " They knew that in the past they had been very definite in asking God for open doors, which prayer God had answered ; the obvious need was now to definitely ask for reinforcements. Taking a sheet of notepaper, they quietly surveyed in thought the vast country, going over province by province and station by station, making notes of the helpers needed, if the older work were to be sustained and the new openings to be developed. No arbitrary 1 See China, No. 3, 1880. 156 THE SECOND DECADE number was selected, but the survey showed the need to be 42 men and 28 women, or 70 workers in all. The result, therefore, of these deliberations was a determination to definitely pray for 70 additional, willing, skilful workers for the CT.M., as well as for large reinforcements for all the Evangelical Societies at work in China. In order to secure the fellowship of Christians at home it was decided to draw up an appeal. This was done and submitted not only to the little company present, but to all the members of the Mission. In consequence of the unavoid- able delay in obtaining the signatures of distant workers in China, the appeal was not published immediately, but it appeared in China s Millions for February 1883, with the autograph signatures of 77 members of the Mission. The Appeal was as follows : We, the undersigned members of the China Inland Mission, having had the privilege of personally labouring in many provinces of this needy land, and having seen with our own e3^es something of its extent, and of the great spiritual needs of the untold millions of its inhabitants, feel pressed in spirit to make a united appeal to the Churches of the living God in Great Britain and Ireland for earnest, persevering prayer for more labourers. We saw with thankfulness a few years ago the generous sympathy called forth by a knowledge of the terrible famine of the bread which perisheth in the northern provinces, and some of us personally took part in distributing the practical fruits of this sympathy among the needy and dying. Many lives were saved, many hungry ones were fed, many naked ones were clad, needy and destitute children were taken in and cared for, some of whom are still under Christian instruction. A more widespread and awful famine of the bread of hfe now exists to-day in every province in China. Souls on every hand are perishing for lack of knowledge ; more than a thousand every hour are passing away into death and darkness. We, and many others, have been sent by God and by the Churches to minister the bread of life to these perishing ones ; but our number collectively is utterly inadequate to the crying needs around us. Provinces in China compare in area vv^ith kingdoms in Europe, and average between ten and twenty minions in population. One province has no missionary ; one has only one, an unmarried missionary ; in each of two other provinces there is only one missionary and his wife resident ; and none are sufficiently supplied with labourers. Can we leave matters thus with- out incurring the sin of bloodguiltiness ? THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY 157 We plead, then, with the Churches of God at home collectively, and with our brothers and sisters in Christ individually — I. To unite with us in fervent, effectual prayer that the Lord of the harvest may thrust forth more labourers into His harvest in connection with every Protestant missionary society on both sides of the Atlantic. II. A careful survey of the spiritual work to which we ourselves are called as members of the China Inland Mission has led us to feel the importance of immediate and large reinforcements ; and many of us are daily pleading with God in agreed prayer for forty-two additional men and twenty-eight additional women, called and sent out by God to assist us in carrying on and extending the work already committed to our charge. We ask our brothers and sisters in Christ at home to join us in praying the Lord of the harvest to thrust out this " other seventy also." We are not anxious as to the means for sending them forth or sustaining them. He has told us to look to the birds and flowers, and to take no thought for these things, but to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto us. But we are concerned that only men and women called of God, fully consecrated to Him, and counting everything precious as " dross and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord," should come out to join us ; and we would add to this appeal a word of caution and encouragement to any who may feel drawn to offer themselves for this blessed work. Of caution, urging such to count the cost, to prayerfully wait on God, to ask themselves whether they will really trust Him for everything, whenever He may call them to go. Mere romantic feeling will soon die out in the toilsome labour and constant discomforts and trials of inland work, and will not be worth much when severe illness arises, and perhaps all the money is gone. Faith in the Hving God alone gives joy and rest in such circumstances. But also of encouragement, for we ourselves have proved God's faithfulness and the blessedness of dependence on Him. He is supplying, and ever has suppUed, all our need ; and if not seldom we have fellowship in poverty with Him who for our sakes became poor, shall we not rejoice if the day proves that we have been like the great missionary apostle, " poor, yet making many rich ; having nothing, yet possessing all things " ? He makes us very happy in His service, and those of us who have children desire nothing better for them, should the Lord tarry, than that they may be called to similar work and to similar joys. May He, dear Christian friends at home, ever be to you " a Hving, bright reality," and enable you to fulfil His calling, and live as witnesses unto Him in the power of the Holy Ghost. — Yours faithfully in His service, (Here follow 77 autograph signatures.) 158 THE SECOND DECADE Such an appeal was a real step of faith, and was in no sense stimulated by any superabundance of funds in hand ; in fact, the income of the Mission at that time had been lower than for four years, though the work was considerably larger. " We feel/' wrote Mr. Taylor, " that if God saw it needful to try our faith, He could do so whether we were seventy more or seventy less, and if He were pleased to supply us abundantly, the additional seventy would be no difficulty to Him." The trial of faith as to funds continued more or less through the year 1882, and the last quarter of that year was, so far as home remittances for general purposes were concerned, perhaps the most trying quarter hitherto experienced. In October, when Mr. Taylor was looking with special expectancy for liberal supplies, in view of the expenses of some long journeys, the letters from home were eagerly opened. Instead, however, of the looked- for seven or eight hundred pounds, only £96 '.9:5 was forthcoming. " We closed the envelope again," wrote Mr. Taylor, " and soon sought our closet, and locking the door knelt down and spread the letter before the Lord, asking Him what was to be done with less than £97, a sum which it was impossible to distribute over seventy stations, in which were eighty or ninety missionaries (including wives), not to speak of about a hundred Chinese helpers, and over a hundred Chinese children to be boarded and clothed in our schools. Having first ourselves rolled the burden on the Lord, we then told the need to other of our missionaries in Chefoo, and we unitedly looked to Him to come to our aid, but let no hint even of our circumstances be given outside. ^' Soon the answers began to come in in local gifts from kind friends, who little knew the peculiar value of their donations, and in other ways, and ere long all the needs of the month were met, and met without our being burdened for one hour with anxious care. We had similar experiences in November, and again in December, and on each occasion, after spreading the letter before the Lord, we left the burden with Him and were ' helped.' " Finding from various letters that some of our English friends were really concerned about this (forward) movement — afraid, apparently, that while prayer for men might be answered, prayer for means might THE STORY OF THE SEVENTY 159 remain unanswered — a few of us were led in Chefoo at one of our daily- morning prayer-meetings to very definitely request the Lord to put His seal upon this m^atter for the encouragement of the timid ones. Not more than half a dozen were present, and the little prayer-meeting was held either during one of the last days of January, or the first days of February 1883. I regret that the date of this meeting was not noted at the time, but I sailed from Chefoo on February 5 or 6, and it must have been a few days before that time. •^ We knew that our Father loves to please His children — what father does not ? And we asked Him lovingly to please us, as well as encourage the timid ones, by leading some of His wealthy stewards to make room for a large blessing for himself and his family, by giving liberally of his substance for this special object. No account of this prayer-meeting was written home, and had it been written the letter could not have reached England before the latter part of March. It was telegraphed straight up to heaven, and God at once telegraphed down the desire into the heart of a willing, skilful steward who, on February 2, sent in anonymously £3000 for this very project. " By the time I was half way home, the tidings of this gift, conveyed in a letter from my dear wife, then in England, was half way out, and reached me at the port of Aden. It may be imagined with what joy I received them. " But this was not all. When I reached Marseilles, and went on to Cannes to spend a few days with our valued friend, W. T. Berger, Esq., the number of China's Millions for April 1883 reached my hands ; and there I found in the list of donations this £3000, acknowledged under the date of February 2, and the text, Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of Me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost Dr thy possession,' as follows : Father . . . £1000 Mother 1000 Mary 200 Rosie 200 Bertie 200 Amy 200 Henry 200 £3000 " It was most striking to notice how literally God had fulfilled our prayer, and led His faithful steward to make room for a large blessing for himself and his family. Never before had a donation been received and acknowledged in this way, and never since, save that acknowledged i6o THE SECOND DECADE in the number of China's Millions for October 1884, where a donation given for the same fund is entered thus : I St Septembe r, Ps. i I. 8. Father . £200 Mother 200 Mary 100 Rosie 100 Bertie 100 Amy 100 Henry 100 Baby 100 £1000 A beautiful instance this of a loving father who seeks that each member of his family shall have treasure in heaven. If there were more such fathers^ would there not be fewer unbelieving children ? " The appeal itself, while it asked for prayer for seventy workers, stated no time within which these were to be given, but some at least in China, to quote Mr. Taylor's words, definitely prayed not merely that seventy workers might be given, but that they might be granted during the three years 1882-3-4. So assured was the little band of workers at Wuchang that this whole matter in its conception and in its details was of God that a praise meeting was held ere the conference broke up. In this confidence none were put to shame, for nine of the new helpers were given in 1882, eighteen more in 1883, and forty-six in 1884, or seventy-three in all ; while a further number were accepted and would have sailed had not war between China and France rendered delay advisable. To the praise of God it may also be stated that the income of the Mission kept pace with the increased number of workers. THE THIRD DECADE 1885-1895 iAP. 25. "The Cambridge Seven." „ 26. Organization and Expansion „ 27. The Kwangsin River. ;; 28. North America. „ 29. To EVERY Creature. „ 30. Australasia. ;; 31- Dividing the Field. 161 M I said, " I will walk in the fields." He said, " No, walk in the town." I said, " There are no flowers there." He said, " No flowers, but a crown." I said, " But the sky is black, There is nothing but noise and din." But He wept as He led me back, " There is more," He said, " there is sin." I said, " But the air is thick, And fogs are veiling the sun." He answered, " Yet souls are sick And souls in the dark undone." I said, " I shall miss the light, And friends will miss me they say." He answered, " Choose to-night, If I am to miss you or they." I pleaded for time to be given. He said, "Is it hard to decide ? It will not seem hard in Heaven To have followed the steps of your Guide. I cast one look at the fields, Then set my face to the town. He said, " My child, do you yield ? Will you leave the flowers for the crown ? Then into His hand went mine, And into my heart came He : And I walked in a light divine The path I had feared to see. XXV " THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN " For twenty years the work of the Mission had slowly grown and prospered, in the midst of many hardships and trials not unmixed sometimes with harsh and even bitter criticisms. It was well that it should be so, for the Mission thus had time and opportunity to prove beyond controversy that its strength and security lay in the approval and blessing of God, and not in the smile of man. With the year 1885 the comparative obscurity of those early years somewhat suddenly gave place to an unwonted notoriety through the remarkable enthusiasm evoked throughout the country by the going forth of the Cambridge Band. In the eyes of some the going forth of such a party was the chief dis- tinction of the Mission, but while gratefully acknowledging all that such a gift of workers meant, nothing can obscure the devotion and courage of the early pioneers, who, un- affected by either applause or criticism, had been instru- mental in opening up the hitherto unopened and unoccupied provinces of China. During the years when the Seventy were going forth to China, the second Mission of Messrs. Moody and Sankey in Great Britain was preparing the way, both directly and in- directly, for the great outburst of missionary fervour which so fittingly was to follow the time of grace which had been manifested in so many parts of the kingdom. In Scotland and in England, not only had many large centres of popula- tion been blessed and helped through the visits of these well- known evangelists, but the Universities also had shared in 163 i64 THE THIRD DECADE the gracious Movement. At Cambridge the Eight Days' Mission of November 1882 had been the beginning of a period of spiritual uphft, which culminated in the startling announcement, during the October term of 1884, that the captain of the Cricket Eleven and the stroke of the 'Varsity Eight were going forth to China as missionaries. At this time only three or four of the Seven had offered for the Foreign Field, but the others were to follow. The formation of the Band of the now well-known Seven extended over the greater part of a year. The first to meet the London Council was Mr. D. E. Hoste on February 26, 1884 ; the second was ]\Ir. Stanley P. Smith on April i of the same year ; next came the Rev. W. W. Cassels on October 7 ; and Mr. C. T. Studd on November 4. The probable departure in December of the first three of these, in company with Mr. Hudson Taylor, was announced in China's Millions for November, during which month the Farewell Meetings, mentioned above, were held at both Oxford and Cambridge.^ These meetings led to increased interest, and ere the party sailed on February 5, 1885, Messrs. Montagu Beauchamp and the two brothers Cecil and Arthur Polhill-Tumer had joined the Band. The extraordinary manifestations of interest and sympathy awakened throughout the country were occasioned by the personnel of the party. Mr. C. T. Studd had been captain of the Cambridge University Eleven in 1883, and was also a prominent member of the All - England Eleven ; Mr. Stanle}^ Smith had been stroke of the Cam.bridge Eight in 1882 ; the Rev. W. W. Cassels was curate of All Saints, South Lambeth ; Mr. D. E. Hoste had been an officer in the Royal Artillery ; Mr. i\Iontagu Beaucham.p was a nephew of the late Lord Radstock and stroke of one of the Cambridge Trial Eights ; Mr. Cecil H. Polhill-Turner was an officer in the 2nd Dragoon Guards, or Queen's Ba^'s ; and his brother, 1 It is interesting to contrast the enthusiasm of 1884 with the caution of 1818. In the Life of Henry Venn, p. 14, the following quotation occurs : " Simeon says in a letter (Nov, 30, 1818) : ' You will be surprised to hear that we have just had a public meeting for the Missionary Society. I trembled when it was proposed and recommended the most cautious proceeding.' " - THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN " 165 Mr. Arthur T. Polhill-Turner was, after graduating at the University, reading for Holy Orders at Ridley Hall. " The influence of such a band of men going to China as mission- aries/' wrote Dr. Eugene Stock in the History of the Church Missionary Society, " was irresistible. No such event had occurred before ; and no event of the century has done so much to arouse the minds of Christian men to the tremendous claims of the Field; and the nobility of the missionary vocation. The gift of such a band to the China Inland Mission — truly it was a gift from God — was a just reward to Mr. Hudson Taylor and his colleagues for the genuine unselfishness with which they had always pleaded the cause of China and the world, and not of their own particular organization, and for the deep spirituality which had always marked their meetings. And that spirituality marked most emphatically the densely-crowded meetings in different places at which these seven men said farewell. They told, modestly and yet fearlessly, of the Lord's goodness to them, and of the joy of serving Him ; and they appealed to young men, not for their Mission, but for their Divine Master. No such missionary meetings had ever been known as the farewell gathering at Exeter Hall on February 4, 1885. We have become familiar since then with meetings more or less of the sam.e type, but it was a new thing then." During the few weeks immediately preceding the de- parture of these workers, Messrs. Stanley Smith and Studd, in company with Mr. Reginald RadcHffe, held meetings at Liverpool, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock, Newcastle, Leeds, Rochdale, Manchester, Bristol, and other towns. At one of these meetings sixty persons professed conversion. At Edinburgh the interest was extraordinary. Opposition and criticism were ahke disarmed, and professors and students together were seen in tears, to be followed in the after- meeting by the glorious sight of professors deahng with students, and students with one another. Of the Farewell Meetings, held at the Conference Hall Eccleston Street, at Cambridge, at Oxford, and finally, on the eve of departure, at Exeter Hall, no description can convey to those not present any adequate idea of the enthusiasm shown. As an evidence of the interest aroused, it may be mentioned that the circulation of the issue of China's Millions which contained the report of the Exeter Hall i66 THE THIRD DECADE meeting rose from twelve thousand to fifty thousand copies, and all of these were sold. Still the demand continued, and two thousand sets of several numbers of China's Millions, containing further news concerning the voyage and first days in China, were published in book form, and were quickly disposed of. This led to the preparation by Mr. Benjamin Broomhall of a book entitled The Missionary Band : A Record of Consecration and an Appeal. Of this fifteen thousand copies were rapidly sold, and a copy was graciously accepted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. An enlarged and improved edition under the title of The Evangelization of the World ^ was prepared and also found great acceptance. A copy of this book was sent by Sir George Wilhams, with a personal letter, to every Y.M.C.A. in the United Kingdom, and was doubtless part of God's preparation for the sub- sequent enlargement of the Mission. The times of blessing experienced in England were repeated in China at meetings held at Shanghai, Tientsin, and Peking, though at Shanghai the party divided — Messrs. Studd and Cecil and Arthur Polhill leaving for Hanchungfu, while Messrs. Stanley Smith, Hoste and Cassels proceeded to Shansi, via Peking, Mr. Montagu Beauchamp following later. One result of the meetings at Peking was an appeal for special and united prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This appeal was signed by twenty-five missionaries at Peking, and was sent to all the Mission stations in China. " If we would all unite/' it concluded; " have we not faith to believe that God would shake China with His power ? " The limits of this volume will not permit us to follow in any detail the movements of these workers. In Shansi, to which the four already mentioned were designated, there were only three Mission stations : Tai5manfu and Pingyangfu occupied by the C.I.M., and Taiku worked by the American 1 Dr. Eugene Stock has written : " The Evangelization of the World was, in my judgment, a masterpiece of editing, and I do not doubt that its circulation gave great impetus to the missionary cause." Dr. Robert Speer has pubhcly stated that, apart from the Bible, no books have so influenced his career as Dr. Blaikie's Personal Lije of Livingstone and Broomhall's Evangelization of the World. - THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN " 167 Board. In and around Pingyangfu the remarkable work associated with the name of Pastor Hsi was in its early stages.^ In the spring of 1884, just a year before the arrival of these reinforcements, there were about fifty baptized Church members, and into this district the new workers arrived in midsummer 1885. Within eight months four new stations had been opened, and Mr. Studd had come over from Hanchungfu to join the party. Mr. Hudson Taylor had long wished and made many attempts to reach Shansi, and at length found his way opened in the summer of 1886. Accompanied by Mr. Orr- Ewing, and his son, Herbert Taylor, he reached Taiyuanfu on Saturday July 3, where they were warmly welcomed by Dr. and Mrs. Edwards, and by the other workers, among whom were Mr. Taylor's niece and nephew, Gertrude and Hudson Broomhall. As the workers from the south of the province had already reached the capital, a Conference was held from Monday July 5 to Wednesday July 14, which period proved to be " days of blessing " ^ and spiritual refreshment. From Taiyuanfu some of the company proceeded south to Hungtung, where they were joined by Mr. Stevenson, who had travelled overland from Shensi. Similar meetings were held here during the first two days of August, there being also over a hundred Chinese Christians present. On the second day of this Chinese Conference, Mr. Hsi was ordained Superintendent Pastor, but without any definition of district since his work was so extensive ; Mr. Sung was set apart as Pastor of the Pingyangfu church ; two other leading Christians were appointed as elders, and sixteen more as deacons. At the sacred Ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which followed this solemn setting apart of Church Officers, over seventy were present. Pastor Hsi presiding and Stanley Smith giving the address on " This do in remembrance of Me." On the 4th and 5th of August a similar Conference was 1 See Pastor Hsi : Confucian Scholar and Christian, by Mrs. Howard Taylor (Morgan & Scott, Ltd.). 2 A report of this Conference was compiled by Mr. Montagu Beauchamp, and published under the title Days of Blessing in Inland China (Morgan & Scott, Ltd.). i68 THE THIRD DECADE held at Pingyangfu, when Mr. Ch'ii was ordained as Pastor of the Taning and Sichow districts, and five more Deacons were set apart. Space fails us to follow further the work in Shansi. Station after station was opened, one of these, Hwochow being opened by the devotion of Mrs. Hsi, who resolutely sold her jewellery and other much-prized posses- sions to meet the expenses. Messrs. Cassels and Beauchamp subsequently left the province for work in Szechwan, where, with the two brothers, Cecil and Arthur Polhill, their chief life-work has been accomplished. On October i8, 1895, the Rev. W. W. Cassels was consecrated Bishop in Western China, with the cordial approval of both the C.I.M., and the C.M.S., which latter Society guaranteed the Episcopal stipend, and in this office he has won the warm love and cordial esteem of all his brethren. Mr. Beauchamp distinguished himself as an ardent pioneer-evangelist ; Mr. Cecil Polhill from the first manifested especial interest in the needs of Tibet, and passed through a serious riot at Sungpan in the course of his labours ; Mr. Arthur Polhill has, with a quiet persistence, worked on at the all-important routine of station duties. In Shansi Mr. Stanley Smith subsequently left the Hungtung district for the east of the province, where he has laboured ever since, his fine gifts as an orator being greatly appreciated by the Chinese ; Mr. C. T. Studd also laboured with much devotion in the east of the same province until failure of health compelled him to withdraw to other more favourable climates ; while Mr. D. E. Hoste continued for nearly ten years the valued and trusted colleague of Pastor Hsi, until the death of that devoted Chinese leader on February 19, 1896. Shortly after Pastor Hsi's death, Mr. Hoste left for a much-needed furlough during which he visited Australia. Instead of returning to Shansi, on his return to the field, he was appointed to Honan, where he worked as Superintendent of the province, until in 1900, in consequence of Mr. Taylor's failure in health, he settled in Shanghai, that he might strengthen the hands of Mr. Stevenson during the strain of the terrible days of the Boxer outbreak. In the following March, Mr. Hoste was appointed - THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN " 169 Acting General Director, and subsequently General Director of the Mission, as will be recorded in a later chapter. Sufficient has been said to show that the Cambridge Band was indeed God's gift to the Mission, and it is a remarkable fact that after the lapse of thirty years, the Band is still unbroken. As we write six of the seven are actually in the Mission field, while the remaining member would also be there did circumstances permit. XXVI ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION If the year 1885, when the Cambridge Band sailed, may be characteriz(id as one of popularity at home, the; year 1886 may be remembered as one of organization on the field, and the year 1887 as one of unprecedented expansion through the going forth of the Hundred. When the Appeal for the Seventy was drawn up at Wuchang, at the close of 1881, there were less than seventy members of the Mission ; whereas, by the close of 1885 this number had increased to one hundred and seventy-seven, with a corresponding advance in all other departments of work. During these years of progress Mr. Taylor had been more and more im- pressed with the importance and urgency of moni thoroughly organizing the work on the field. In the spring of 1883, after an absence of four years in China, Mr. Taylor returned to lingland, and after prolonged thought and prayer, embodied in a circular letter, which was sent to all members of the Mission, his proposals for the future of the work in China. Tliis letter, which was dated August 24, 1883, proposed among other things the division of the field into Mission districts ; the appointment of super- intendents over these districts, and the foi rnation of a China Council, to be composed of these superintendents, with the Director or his Deputy as Chairman. In January 1885, Mr. Taylor, after having carefully discussed his plans with the Council in London, returned to China with the definite object of developing this proposed scheme of organization. Though impeded by various causes, 170 ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION 171 one of which was the sickness or absence on furlough of some of the older workers, ten of the senior members of the Mission were either nominated or appointed to superintend the work in larger or smaller districts. Eight of these ten had been successful workers in the held for periods varying from eleven to twenty-four years, while the other two had been two or three times as long in China as those who were working under their supervision.^ What was of even greater moment than the selection of a Council was the appointment of a Deputy Director in China who could visit the stations on Mr. Taylor's behalf, or act as Chairman of the Council or Director of the work in China during his absence. The choice for this responsible position fell upon Mr. John Whiteford Stevenson, who, after nearly twenty years of varied experience in China returned to the held in December 1885, with the expectation of proceeding to the province of Yunnan. At Mr. Taylor's request, however, he remained in Shanghai, at first to give some much-needed temporary assistance, and then as a travelling Deputy to undertake a number of extensive journeys. In this work he was much prospered, and so fully obtained the goodwill and confidence of his brethren that the larger and permanent appointment followed, in which post for nearly thirty years Mr. Stevenson has, with unsparing devotion, sometimes in times of special stress and strain, spent himself in the service of his brethren. Shortly after Mr. Stevenson's departure for tlu^ journeys mentioned above, Mr. Taylor also set forth, and during the months from May to October 1886, he visited the work in no less than nine provinces. Of his journey down the Kwaugsin River fuller reference will l)i^ made in our next chapter; while of the organization of the (lunese Church in Sliansi we have alrc^ady si)oken. In Sliansi, it will be remembered, Mr. Stevenson, who was travelling from the west, had joined Mr. Taylor's party, which had travelled ' Vhr names ol (hcsc supiM iiiltuulenls, wiMi (lio dates of tlu>ir arrival in China arc : J. ]. Meadows, 1802 ; j. W. Stevenson, i8()6 ; J. M'Carthy, 1807 ; 13. lia},Miali. 1873 ; F. W. Jiallor, 1873 ; J. Cameron, 1875 ; G. W. Clarke. 1873 ; C. l>. l-.aslon, 1875 ; A. C. Dm-wiud, 1878 ; W. Cooper, 1881. 172 THE THIRD DECADE from the east, upon the memorable occasion of the ordination of Pastor Hsi. During these days of blessing in Shansi, Mr. Stevenson received a great spiritual uplift, and in a letter addressed to Mrs. Taylor, and written ere he left the province, he wrote : We are greatly encouraged out here^ and are definitely asking and receiving by faith definite blessing for this hungry and thirsty land. We are fully expecting at least a hundred fresh labourers to arrive in China in 1887. . . . At the conclusion of these journeys Mr. Taylor and Mr. Stevenson, with five of the Provincial Superintendents, met in the prefectural city of Anking for the first meeting of the newly-formed China Council.^ Before the discussion of definite business several days were devoted to prayer and fasting. At one of the gatherings for pra3^er Mr. Stevenson reiterated the thought suggested in his letter from Shansi, saying, " Shall we not pray for immediate reinforcements — a hundred new workers during the coming year ? " There was indeed abundant need, as all present too sadly knew. This great request was laid before God, and among the things discussed at the subsequent Council meetings, which lasted from November 13 to 26, was a uniform plan of study for future candidates, and the appointment of two Training Institutions, one for men at iVnking, and one for women at Yangchow. On the day before this first session of the China Council closed, Mr. Stevenson, at Mr. Taylor's request, sent out a circular letter to all the members of the Mission, reminding them of the Day of Prayer and Fasting on December 31. This letter, dated November 25, 1886, closes as follows : The coming out of twenty-two new workers — five of whom are self-supporting — this year, is in itself no small cause for thanksgiving. Our needs are, however, so great that this increase has appeared as ^ Only a few weeks before these Council Meetings, the Chinese Govern- ment had issued an Edict of Religious Toleration, which was no small subject for encouragement and thanksgiving. ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION 173 nothing, and I would suggest that definite prayer for no less than one hundred new workers during 1887 be offered on our fast day, and also that it may be a subject of daily prayer afterwards. " Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My Name ; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." At the close of these Council Meetings, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Stevenson proceeded from Anking to Takutang, whence they cabled the following message to London in December : Banded prayer next year hundred new workers send possible. soon as Meanwhile Mr. Bailer, with the assistance of Mr. Landale and four competent Chinese teachers, commenced the preparation of a book to aid new beginners in the study of the language. This was the first edition of the now well- known Bailer's Mandarin Primer. A hundred new workers in one year was a great request, and one which was to tax severely the workers in the Home Department, as well as to call for a very substantial enlarge- ment of income. Yet God who had led to the prayer being offered gave the faith that He would answer. " We have been led to pray for one hundred new workers this year," said Mr. Ta3dor at the Annual Meetings in London on May 26, 1887. " We have the sure word ' Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' Rest- ing on this promise, it would not have added to our confidence one whit, if, when we began to pray in November, my brother-in-law, Mr. Broomhall, had sent me out a printed list of one hundred accepted candidates. We had been spending some days in fasting and prayer for guidance and blessing before the thought was first suggested to our mind. We began the matter aright — with God — and we are quite sure that we shall end aright. . . . Whether God will give His ' ex- ceeding abundantly ' by sending us more than the literal hundred, or whether by stirring up other branches of the Church to send many hundreds — which I would greatly prefer — or whether by awakening a missionary enthusiasm all over the Church, and blessing the whole world through it, I do not know. I hope that He will answer prayer in all these ways ; but sure I am that God will do it handsomely." And God did answer prayer, for the close of the year saw all the hundred workers either in China, or on their way 174 THE THIRD DECADE thither. And of this ntimber it may be mentioned three were the pioneers of the Bible Christian Mission in China, which Mission for some years worked in association with the C.I.M. Especially encouraging was the way in which God supplied the funds, for with the great pressure occasioned by a careful examination of several hundred candidates who applied, the task might have proved too great had the sudden rise in the income from £22,000 to £33,700 come through a large number of small gifts. Of this sum, however, eleven contributions — ^the smallest of which was £500 and the largest £2500 — supplied no less than £10,000. A few details as to some of these gifts may be recorded for the glory of God, for while the smallest gifts are valued, in this case special prayer had been made that some large donations might be received for the special needs of so large a party. Further, some of the larger gifts were directly connected with a widow's mite. Shortly after the receipt of the cable from China, report- ing prayer for the hundred new workers, the late Mr. T. A. Denny invited Mr. Broomhall, then Secretary of the Mission, to breakfast with him in his West End home. About eight persons in all were present, and during the meal many questions were asked concerning the work of God in China. When answering these, Mr. Broomhall took from his pocket a letter he had received from a poor widow, who out of her poverty frequently sent gifts to the Mission. The self- denial of this widow, who said she could do without meat but the heathen could not do without the Gospel, came, so Mr. J. E. Mathieson, who was present, said, " as a shock to our personal self-indulgence." At the close of the meal, the host stated that all he had ever given to God's work had not cost him a mutton chop. He had chiefly helped work at home, but he would now like to do something for the Foreign Field, and he thereupon promised £500 to the work of the C.I.M. This voluntary offering led to a private con- versation round the table, with the result that three others decided to make a similar gift, whilst a fourth friend, who had been invited, but had been unable to come, decided to do the same, so that that somewhat impromptu breakfast ORGANIZATION AND EXPANSION 175 party contributed no less than £2500 at the very outset of this new movement. On the day of the Annual Meetings of the same year, a cable from China told of a gift of £1000 made out there, while a letter from Mr. Berger, read at the same Annual Meeting, announced a gift of £500 in thanksgiving to God for all that He had condescended to do through the Mission, whilst notice was also given of another gift of £2000 to be paid in on July i. Thus in many ways, and through many channels God supplied the necessary means, and set his seal to the going forth of these workers. It may not be without interest to record that after a lapse of twenty-seven years, an analysis shows that of the hundred who sailed in 1887, seven laid down their lives during the Boxer crisis ; sixteen others have been called to Higher Service by natural death ; twenty-eight have on account of health or other causes retired ; while forty-nine are still in the Foreign Field, thirty-eight of these being still connected with the China Inland Mission. XXVII THE KWANGSIN RIVER Though there are now not a few Mission stations in the Foreign Field where only lady workers reside, there is probably no sphere of Women's Work quite comparable to that on the Kwangsin River. The Kwangsin River, rising among the hills of West Chekiang, runs for about two hundred miles through the north-east of the province of Kiangsi, until it empties itself into the Poyang Lake. Throughout this entire region all the Mission stations are worked by women only, and this experiment, if such it may be called, has been signally owned and blessed of God. It was somewhat of a new departure when, in the Lammer- muir party of 1866, six single ladies sailed for China with a view to working inland, but the appointment of such a separate sphere for women's work, as was the case on the Kwangsin River, was an even greater innovation. That it came to be so was mainly from the fact that there were no men to appoint — " We have had no men to spare for the fifteen millions of Kiangsi," ^\Tote Mr. Talyor — and so the question which had to be faced was, shall this district be left without the Gospel, or shall the messengers of Peace be women ? The latter of these alternatives needed some courage and independence on the part of the leader, and also on the part of those who volunteered to go, but the thought of leaving so needy a sphere without the Gospel was un- thinkable. And so the venture was made and has been more than justified. The story of Captain Yii's work, which led to the opening 176 THE KWANGSIN RIVER 177 up of Yiishan, and the early itinerations of Mr. Cardwell have already been told in earlier chapters.^ It will be remembered that after Mr. Taylor's journey down the Kwangsin River in 1880, when the three out-stations of Yiishan, Hokow, and Kweiki were visited, the work had been somewhat rearranged, the superintendence of the two former of these stations being placed in the hands of Mr. Ran die, who resided at Chiichowfu, and the care of the latter remaining with Mr. Cardwell, who was stationed at Takutang. During the nearly six years which had elapsed since that arrangement was made, comparatively little had been done for these small centres of light. They had been visited occasionally by the missionaries in charge, but there had been no worker to spare to commence settled work upon this river. Meanwhile God was blessing the deputation work of Mr. McCarthy while at home on furlough, and caUing out a number of lady workers, some of whom were to dedicate their lives to this needy region. The last party of the Seventy, which sailed for China in October 1884, was composed of ladies under the escort of the Misses Murray. Of this band of workers six came from Glasgow and three from England. In the autumn of 1885, two of this party, the Misses Mackintosh and Gibson, were appointed to the station of Chiichowfu, where Captain Yii had been converted, and where the work was then in the care of Mr. and Mrs. D. Thompson. After a busy autumn and winter Miss Gibson went for a brief change to the out-station of Changshan, but instead of finding rest, she was almost overwhelmed with opportunities of service among the women. The effect of this brief visit was such that the local Christians spontane- ously contributed ten dollars towards the renovation of the Mission premises with the hope of securing a settled worker in their midst. Such an experience promised well for similar work elsewhere, and when Mr. Taylor about the same time visited the city of Yangchow in Kiangsu, which was then a ladies' station, he was dehghted with what he sav/. The Chinese women, and even some ladies of position, had 1 See Chapter XXI. page 136 for beginnings of Kwangsin River work. N 178 THE THIRD DECADE begun to look upon their foreign sisters quite in the hght of friends. Some of the Chinese homes had been opened not only to occasional visits but for regular services. Altogether the aspect of the work was such as to encourage a new departure in women's work. In the spring of 1886, only a few weeks after this visit to Yangchow and Miss Gibson's brief stay in the out- station of Changshan, Mr. Taylor started on his second journey down the Kwangsin River, accompanied by his son Herbert, Mr. Thompson, and with five of the 1884 ladies' party, the Misses C. K. and M. Murray, Mackintosh, Gray, and Webb. From Changshan the party proceeded by sedan chairs to cross the watershed from the head waters of the Tsientang River to those of the Kwangsin River. After this rough journey of some thirty English miles, Yiishan was reached, where the evangelist extended a hearty welcome to the party. Several days were spent here, and on Sunday a little company of some thirty Christians, some from con- siderable distances, gathered together. It was good to find that of the thirty-six at this centre who had been baptized from the commencement, thirty-three were still in fellowship. For years they had been praying that some missionary might come and settle in their midst, and now that they heard that their prayers were to be answered, their gratitude was real and touching. Yiishan stands at the head of the navigable waters of the Kwangsin River, and from this point the journey was made down-stream by boat. At Hokow, the next out-station to be reached, Mr. Taylor with Mr. Thompson and the Misses Mackintosh and Gray went ashore and had a helpful time with the enquirers, while many interested visitors came to see those who remained on board. In this city there were found some eight or nine women apparently quite ready for baptism, but a public baptismal service for women at such an early stage was naturally thought to be undesirable. From Hokow the party proceeded further down-stream to Kweiki, where an evangelist was stationed, and here they had the joy of witnessing the baptism of the first convert, a Mr. Wang, who, with his wife and five sons had all come THE KWANGSIN RIVER 179 forward as candidates. This early convert, who is now (1915) Elder of the Church at Kweiki, still faithfully main- tains his witness for Christ. The station of Takutang, situated on the Poyang Lake, at the foot of the magnificent hills, where the well-known sanatorium Ruling now stands, was reached early in June, the three centres mentioned being the only places in the whole of the journey down the river which were in any sense open to the Gospel. It need hardly be said that earnest prayer had been offered for the many other cities and villages which were just as needy, and these prayers were to be speedily answered. On June 17, not many days after Takutang was reached, three of the party, the Misses Mackintosh, Gray, and Webb, set forth once more to journey back to the stations they had so recently visited, this time accompanied by Miss Byron. Ere they started, Romans viii. was read as their morning portion, and strengthened by the conviction that nothing could separate them from the love of God which was in Christ Jesus their Lord, they set forth filled with holy joy to a task fraught with many and serious difficulties. Hokow was reached on June 30, and here Miss Gray and Miss Webb went ashore, while Miss Mackintosh and Miss Byron pro- ceeded to their respective stations of Yiishan and Chang- shan. Throughout the whole of the summer and autumn the two ladies on the lower reaches of the river travelled from centre to centre, living much on their boat, but spending longer or shorter periods at Kweiki and Hokow, while the other two worked in or around their separate stations. In November Miss MTarlane, another of the 1884 band, and Miss Littler came as reinforcements to the Kwangsin River. Miss Littler settled at Changshan with Miss Byron, and Miss M'Farlane temporarily resided at Yiishan, after having spent a short time at the other centres. Lack of space prevents us following in any detail the pioneer work of these noble women, amid many encouragements, constant inconveniences, and occasional perils. In briefest fashion we can only record that in the spring of 1887 Miss Gibson, another of the 1884 party, settled at Hokow, where for the next twenty years, until her death, she was in charge of the i8o THE THIRD DECADE station. In 1890 Miss Marchbank, who had for more than two years been associated with INIiss Mackintosh at Yiishan, moved to Kweiki, where she has been the devoted leader ever since. Meanwhile most of the sisters of the first North American party, which reached China towards the close of 1888, had been designated to Kiangsi, and with their help the tw^o cities of Kw^angfeng and Anjen were occupied in 1889, and lyang and Yangkow in the following year. Thus within a few years every cit}^ on the river, with the exception of Kwangsinfu, had been opened to the Gospel, while countless villages around had heard the joyful news. Gracious fruit to all this labour was early seen, for 55 persons confessed Christ in baptism in the year 1887, 35 more in 1888, and another 59 during the following year. When the first Conference of the workers on the Kwangsin River met at Yiishan in September 1890, there were seventeen sisters present, representing a band of twenty-one w^orkers from nine or ten stations. This company of workers from England, Scotland, Canada, the United States, and Switzerland, met under the guidance of Mr. McCarthy, then Superintendent of that district. And they were able to rejoice in the glad fact that already more than 260 persons had been baptized in that region for which they were specially responsible. This was indeed an encouraging beginning. The prefect ural city of Kwangsinfu was still, however, closed to the Gospel, though many attempts had been made to gain an entrance. Despite the fact that the workers were repeatedly repulsed, and the Chinese helpers not infrequently roughly handled, this city was constantly visited and many friends gained. At length in 1901, Miss M'Farlane, assisted by an experienced teacher, Mr. Li, was prospered in the renting of a house. Quietly she moved in at night, but next day, when the gentry heard of the fact, they drew up a petition requesting the official to compel the foreigner to withdraw. They were not, however, the first to address the magistrate, for Miss M'Farlane's card had already been presented at the Yamen, and the ofiicial had promised his protection, and despite all that the gentry tried to do, he did not go back from his word. THE KWANGSIN RIVER i«i In following the story of the occupation of the prefectural city, the last in this region to open its gates to the Gospel, we have somewhat exceeded the Hmits of the period of which this section treats. Here, however, we must leave this interesting sphere of labour in which every year has seen increasing blessing. Few stations in the Mission, if any, have given more encouraging results than those on the Kwangsin River, more than three thousand persons having been baptized at these stations worked by lady workers. For the first five years the work was superintended by Mr. McCarthy, from which time until after the year 1900, it was under the able and generous care of Mr. A. Orr Ewing. After the Boxer crisis, Mr. E. Pearse took these responsi- bilities, while Mr. Orr Ewing devoted himself to the super- intendence of the work in the north, centre, and south of the province, a work entaihng arduous and almost incessant travelhng from place to place. After Mr. Pearse's return to England Mr. William Taylor, one of the North American party mentioned below, was in 1912 appointed Superinten- dent of north and north-east Kiangsi. Three years after Mr. Taylor's journey down the Kwangsin River, when this special department of women's work was inaugurated, because no men could be spared for the fifteen milhons in Kiangsi, a band of six Canadian brethren were designated for itinerant service in the practically untouched centre, south, and west of the province. These brethren ^ reached Kiukiang on October 30, 1889, and speedily entered upon their arduous toil. These parts of Kiangsi proved a harder field to open than the Kwangsin River, possibly because there was more political suspicion connected with the work of men than that of women. ^ ^ Messrs. Home, Meikle, Rough, Lawson, G. Duff, and Souter. In 1891 Messrs. Wm. Taylor and A. E. Thor took the pJaces of Souter, who had died, and of Rough, who had taken over the business work at Kiukiang. 2 Mr. Hudson Taylor, speaking at the Shanghai Missionary Conference of 1890, said : " The issue of women's work has greatly dehghted and somewhat astonished me ; and it is a very serious question in my mind whether those provinces and cities in China which are utterly closed to male evangelists may not prove open to our sisters. We have seen this in some cases. There is not the same fear that lady missionaries are i82 THE THIRD DECADE In this work on the Kan River, no attempt was made at first to rent houses, so as to avoid all possible trouble. The three cities of Changshu, Kian, and Kanchow were chosen as centres from which to itinerate, and although the hard- ships of living in inns were fully weighed, it was considered the wisest course to adopt at first. Many tr^dng experiences were met with in these early efforts, these brethren being not only turned out of the inns sometimes, but the landlords also being beaten for having sheltered them. In 1891 a precarious tenure of premises was obtained in Kian, but the Chino- Japanese War of 1894-95 was, strange to say, used of God to break down opposition, and since that time there has been less unfriendly feeling, as well as fuller opportunities for work. Of the more recent developments we cannot speak, save to say that great changes have come over the whole of this district, and several of those who endured the hardships of those early years are now reaping the fruit of their labours. political agents of the British Government, and they have been allowed to go to places and to work where a male missionary would have found no residence whatever. ... In one city we laboured for some years but could not get near to the people. Two single ladies went there and visited in the homes of the people, and the change of feeling was very remarkable. In Lanchowfu in Kansu, Mr. Parker secured a residence outside the city, but one of our single sisters went there, and she succeeded in renting a house witiiin the city." XXVIII NORTH AMERICA In the preceding chapter incidental reference has been made to reinforcements from North America. The story of God's leadings, which made this possible, must now be more fully told. From the commencement the basis of the Mission had been interdenominational, though for the first twenty- three years the Home organization had centred in Great Britain alone. In the ^^ear 1888 developments arose, which resulted in the Mission becoming international. More than twenty years' experience had proved that members of all the leading denominations could work harmoniously and happily together without any friction in regard to de- nominational questions, so that the Mission had become an Evangehcal Alhance in miniature. The future was to prove that Christians of various nationahties could as easily and as heartily co-operate in the evangehzation of the world. In this respect the C.I.M. has been permitted to become a living example of " All one in Christ Jesus." This larger bond of union was not sought by man, but thrust upon the Mission by God.^ In the autumn of 1887, Mr. Henry W. Frost, who was then hving in Attica in Western New York, where he had the needs of China heavily laid upon his heart, came to England with the purpose of inviting Mr. Taylor to visit 1 Since these words were written the terrible European War has broken out. Though most of the leading nations of Europe are represented in the Mission's ranks, it is still devoutly hoped that the Super-National basis of the Mission may be maintained. 183 i84 THE THIRD DECADE America in the hope that he would estabhsh there a branch of the China Inland Mission. This proposal was unexpected, and Mr. Taylor, after two earnest conversations with Mr. Frost on the subject rephed : " The Lord has given me no light about it. I do not think it is His purpose thus to extend the work." Mr. Taylor nevertheless promised that should he be invited to speak at Niagara and Northfield, he would gladly return to China via America, so as to spend one or two months in that country. A few weeks later a request came from Dr. W. J. Erdman, asking him to speak at the Niagara Conference in the following July ; while a somewhat similar request came from Mr. D. L. Moody in regard to the Northfield Convention in August. One remarkable thing about this was that although Mr. Frost had written to Mr. Moody, suggesting that Mr. Taylor should be invited, Mr. Moody's invitation, which had been entrusted to a relative who was crossing to England, had been given before Mr. Frost's letter was received. These invitations were accepted, and on June 23, 1888, immediately on the conclusion of the General Missionary Conference in London, Mr. Hudson Taylor, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Radclif£e and Dr. Howard Taylor, set sail from Liverpool. After a brief stay at Northfield, the party proceeded to Niagara, where Mr. Taylor spoke at the meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, July 18 to 19, leaving shortly afterwards for Chicago. Messrs. Radcliffe and Robert P. Wilder remained on at Niagara, however, and so much was the missionary interest deepened, that before the close of the Conference funds were placed in the hands of Mr. Frost, who was one of the Conference Secretaries, for the support of eight new missionaries in connection with the C.I.M. This altogether unexpected development at first much exercised Mr. Taylor's mind. But he soon "gathered " that the Lord was guiding to the opening up of work in North America. '' I had not the most remote idea of our visit to America affecting the China Inland Mission thus/' wrote Mr. Taylor some time sub- sequently. " It was a great surprise^ and it led to much prayer that one might know the Lord's purpose in this deahng. Mr. Radchffe NORTH AMERICA 185 had remarked to me, and I to him, more than once as we were crossing the ocean together, that we felt we did not know what God was taking us to America for, though we felt that we were following His leading ; and when this remarkable manifestation of interest and desire to help came, one was thrown very much upon God in prayer, and it was impressed upon my heart, and upon the hearts of some of my friends, that if there could be found men and women in America who would go out to China, the funds so contributed would be a direct link between the missionaries, and would be likely to deepen the interest in Missions and to further the interests of the Redeemer's Kingdom. But I was very much concerned — I might almost use the word ' frightened '—at the thought, for one felt how difficult it might be, if persons were to come forward and offer themselves, to so thoroughly become acquainted with them as only to select the right people." The guidance of God, however, as shown by the gifts contributed at Niagara became plainer a month later when Mr. Taylor visited the second Conference at Northfield, and as he held meetings at various other centres in the States and Canada. To have the men and no money, Mr. Taylor said, would not have perplexed him so much as to have money and no missionaries, lest the wrong people might be en- couraged to apply. Yet after prayerful conversation with a number of earnest Christians, he appealed for workers at the meetings subsequently held, and the response was such that Mr. Taylor said, " I saw that God was really working," and that was all he desired to know. But the money contributed at Niagara proved — ^like the loaves and fishes of old — almost inexhaustible. For the first candidate who offered, Mr. Moody said that he would provide her outfit and passage money, and the members of her Church also expressed a desire to support her. For the second, who had been four years at Northfield, her father said : "I am not a rich man, but I have saved sufficient money $250 (gold) to sustain her for the first year. ... No one else must support my Grace until my own money is used." Thus again the Niagara contributions could not be employed. It was the same with the third as well as with more who followed. " How blessed it is," said Mr. Taylor, " to deal with God." i86 THE THIRD DECADE The letters of this period clearly show that with the enlargement of the Mission's outlook God also gave enlarge- ment of heart. " I was quite melted/' said Mr. Taylor, " by the kindness of beloved friends to me ; if I had been an old friend or brother, I could not have been received with more welcome than I was in many places. One's heart was very much touched, and one felt what a wealth of love and grace there is in the great Church — greater perhaps than one had ever conceived before — that after all, all the wide world over, no matter whether in Africa, in India, in China, or in America, in Canada, in Scotland or in England, all the Lord's children are children of one Father, all bound to one great central heart, and that they are indeed all one in Christ Jesus. It is so glorious to realise the Church is one. It is not uniformity that we want, but really manifested heart unity." By the time Mr. Taylor was ready to start for China, some forty-two candidates had offered, and of this number seventeen had been accepted, while it was decided that fourteen (six men and eight women) should go forward at once. Before the departure of these friends, Farewell Meetings marked wdth an unwonted enthusiasm were held. To quote from Recollections of Reginald Radcliffe, by his wife : The proceedings of these farewell meetings of the first band of American and Canadian missionaries to inland China have, I think, rarely been equalled for solemn impressiveness and touching pathos. . . . From Dr. Parson's Church we accompanied them (on September 25) to the railway station ; and perhaps never has Toronto witnessed such a scene — from 500 to 1000 people came to see them off. When the party were settled on board the train, Mr. Radcliffe lifted up his strong voice and led in a touching prayer for blessing and preservations to the travellers. Many people followed his words with a loud voice. There was great emotion. The members of the Y.M.C.A. walked up the streets of Toronto four abreast singing hymns ; and we waved our handkerchiefs. Thus ended one of the most interesting eras of my life. We parted ; but it was to keep tryst at Jesus' feet — they from the Pacific, we from the Atlantic. We had seen how marvellously God had opened hearts in America and Canada to Mr. Taylor's appeal for inland China and to Mr. Radcliffe's thrilHng words on behalf of the whole heathen world. NORTH AMERICA 187 This party/ " the American Lammermuir party," sailed from Vancouver on October 5, 1888, as America's first gift in connection with the China Inland Mission to the needy millions of China, and these were the welcome reinforcements which helped to occupy the stations on the Kwangsin River, and commenced the pioneering work in other parts of Kiangsi, to which reference has already been made. It was of course necessary that the cases of the remaining candidates should be considered, and this responsible work was delegated by Mr. Taylor, on the eve of his departure, to Mr. Frost at Attica, and to Mr. Sandham at Toronto. One incident may be recorded revealing the guiding hand of God at this time. While Mr. Taylor and Messrs. Frost and Sandham were seated together in the Christian Institute at Toronto, seeking God's guidance as to the future, Mr. Taylor asked for suggestions as to the names of some sympathetic friends who could act as members of a pro- visional Council. Three names were proposed — Dr. Parsons, Mr. Gooderham, and Mr. Nasmith, and as it was impractic- able for Mr. Taylor to call upon them, Messrs. Frost and Sandham agreed to see them personally. What, however, was their surprise when in walked one of the three, to be followed a few minutes later by another, while the third entered shortly afterwards. These three friends had no idea that Mr. Taylor was there at that time, and two of them had not entered the building for months. During the months that followed Mr. Taylor's departure, God began to wean the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Frost away from their much loved home at Attica, which had been given them by their father, and to teach them many personal lessons of faith and trust in God as Jehovah-Jireh. Previous to Mr. Frost's visit to England he had given up a lucrative business for evangelistic work, and his father had generously undertaken to support him. But now came an unlooked-for change, for a letter was received from Mr. Frost senior ^ The names of this party which accompanied Mr. Hudson Taylor are : — The Misses E. M. Lucas, Grace Irvin, S. C. Parker, Cassie Fitzsimons, Jeannie Monro, J. D. Gardiner, Hattie Turner, Rebecca M'Kenzie ; Messrs. Wm. S. Home, John Meikle, Wm. M. Souter, George H. Duff, James Lawson, J. Hamilton Racey. i88 THE THIRD DECADE stating that he could no longer continue to minister to their needs. The test was a real and searching one, for either this meant going back into business, or going forward into a fuller trust in God. The latter course was chosen, and through many varied and heart-searching experiences, which cannot be detailed, God prepared His servants for the special work to which He was about to call them. In the following year, 1889, Mr. Taylor, having returned from China to England, paid a second visit to America. Once again he was present at the Niagara Conference in July and at Northfield in iVugust. He took part also at meetings in a number of other cities in the States and Canada. But the principal object of this visit was to meet the gentlemen who had formed the provisional Council, and after conference with them to put the work upon a more permanent basis. Eight half -day meetings with the Council were held — four at Niagara and four at Toronto — with the result that a permanent Council ^ was appointed with Mr. Henry Weston Frost, whom God had been so signally preparing, as Secretary and Treasurer. A Home for the accommodation of candidates was taken at 30 Shuter Street, Toronto, with Offices in the Christian Institute building on Richmond Street, and Mr. and Mrs. Frost broke up their home in Attica to take charge of these the first headquarters of the Mission in Canada. The liberality shown at Niagara had exceeded that of the pre- ceding year and the work assumed its more permanently organized form with every sign of God's favour. In the year 1891 the growing needs of the Home Depart- ment made larger premises necessary, and a more com- modious house, situated at the comer of Church and Charles Streets, was rented, in which the Home and Offices were combined, and here the work centred for about eight years. 1 The names of the Members of this Council were : — Hon. S. H. Blake, Toronto ; Mr. J. R. Cavers, Gait., Ont. ; Rev. W. J. Erdman, D.D., Asheville, N.C. ; Mr. Henry W. Frost, Attica, N.Y. ; Mr. Wm. Gooderham, Toronto ; Mr. J. S. Helmer, Lockport, N.Y. ; Mr. Robert Kilgour, Toronto ; Hon. and Rev. R. Moreton, Hamilton, Ont. ; Mr. J. D. Nasmith, Toronto ; Rev. H. M. Parsons, D.D., Toronto; Mr. Ehas Rogers, Toronto; Mr, Alfred Sandham, Toronto ; Mr. Edmund Savage, Hamilton, Ont. ; Rev. Robert WaUace, Belleville, Ont. NORTH AMERICA 189 As time progressed, however, earnest prayer was made for more suitable and more permanent quarters, and in the autumn of 1899 a gift of about $5000 (gold) was received from Mr. Taylor, to whom the money had come as a personal legacy from his old friend and colleague, Mr. W. T. Berger, and this gift was generously designated for the purchase of a permanent Mission Home in Canada. With this donation, and other specially contributed funds, the Mission was enabled to secure the commodious premises at the comer of Church and Wellesley Streets, which have remained as the Home and Office Centre in Toronto ever since. Meanwhile, the need of additional helpers for the some- what rapidly growing work was felt, and in 1893, Mr. Frost was appointed Home Director in North America, and sub- sequently Mr. Joshua S. Helmer of Lockport, New York, who had been a Member of the Council from the beginning, was appointed the Secretary-Treasurer. To free Mr. Frost for a wider ministry, Mr. and Mrs. Helmer took over the charge of the Mission Home in Toronto, where they con- tinued lovingly to minister to their ever-changing household for the next twenty years. ^ For some time it had been manifest that a Home Centre would be needed in the States as well as in Canada, and in 1900, the answer to many prayers came in the offer of a large and attractive house in Norristown, Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia. This kind offer was gratefully accepted, and shortly afterwards the house was purchased by the donor and placed at the disposal of the Mission. Here Mr. and Mrs. Frost took up their residence, with a view to opening up more fully work in the States, and this generous gift of an Eastern home made possible in no small measure the subsequent developments in and around Philadelphia. This Home, however, with all its attractions was found to be somewhat far removed from the central city, and in consequence in 1903, Mr. and Mrs. Frost moved to German- town, a suburb of Philadelphia, where in 1904 two kind 1 Mrs. Helmer died suddenly on June 6, 1913, beloved and mourned by many. igo THE THIRD DECADE friends united in presenting to the Mission the present premises on School Lane as a permanent Eastern centre. An Eastern Council was subsequently formed, and still later Mr. Frederick H. Neale, who had had eight years experience in the Mission's Offices in Shanghai, was appointed to act as Secretary. This post he held from the autumn of 1906 to the autumn of 1913, when unfortunately his health made a prolonged rest necessary. To fill the vacant post, Mr. and Mrs. William Y. King, who had been assisting at Toronto for the previous three years, were transferred to German- town, while Mr. and Mrs. Frederick F. Helmer were appointed to Toronto to strengthen the hands of their widowed father. In this chapter some of the more important facts con- cerning changes of personnel have been briefly outlined up to the present time, as opportunity may not occur for referring to this elsewhere. The bond of union formed in 1888 has strengthened and increased as years have passed,^ which may be illustrated by the fact that, whereas at first the financial obligations of Great Britain and America were kept separate, ere many years had passed all funds were unitedly administered on the Field, for the labourers, whether from the old country or the new, being " of one heart and soul," did not desire to say " that aught of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things in common." ^ As we write the North American Contingent on active service numbers 114, while 37 have laid down their lives upon the Field or have died after returning home. XXIX TO EVERY CREATURE Remarkable as had been the unexpected and unsought- for developments in North America, they were to prove but the beginning of a still wider spread of interest in and devotion to the evangelization of China. The early hopes of and prayers for a few helpers for the evangelization of Chekiang, and later for pioneers for the unoccupied provinces of China, had been abundantly answered, but there could be no resting in what had been accomplished, while so much remained to be done ; each success afforded only a better and higher vantage-ground for an enlarged and clearer vision. The things which were behind must be forgotten, save as they encouraged the workers to press forward towards the goal of a finished work. " The evangelization of the world in this generation " was becoming the watchword of an ever- increasing band of men, and the same thought filled the heart and mind of Mr. Taylor, though more especially with reference to China, and with a hope that an even shorter period than a generation would be necessary. The General Missionary Conference, which had met in Shanghai in 1877, had appealed to the Christian Church to evangelize China in the present generation, and many had hoped it would be accomplished before the close of the nineteenth century. Yet more than half that time had elapsed and the last decade was drawing on, and not one hundredth part of China had been reached with the Good News of Salvation. Meditating on and praying over these things, Mr. Taylor, shortly after his return from his second 191 192 THE THIRD DECADE visit to America, issued in October 1889 a Leaflet entitled : To Every Creature. " How are we going to treat the Lord Jesus Christ in reference to this command ? " wrote Mr. Taylor. " Shall we definitely drop the title Lord, as appHed to Him, and take the ground that we are quite wilUng to recognize Him as our Saviour Jesus, so far as the penalty of sin is concerned, but are not prepared to recognize ourselves as bought with a price, or Him as having any claim on our unquestioning obedi- ence ? Shall we say that we are our own masters ? . . . that we will give Him what we think fit, and obey any of His commands that do not demand too great a sacrifice ? To be taken to Heaven by Jesus Christ we are more than willing, but we will not have this Man to reign over us. . . . Shall it not rather become a holy ambition to all who have health and youth, to court the Master's approval, and tread in His steps in seeking to save a lost world ? And shall not Christian parents encourage their children's enthusiasm, feeling that they have nothing too precious for their Lord, who gave Himself for them ? " The Leaflet from which this quotation is taken then proceeds to treat of the problem and practicability of speedily evangelizing China. It pointed out that with a thousand evangelists, each preaching the Gospel to fifty families a day, every family in China might be reached within five years. The suggestion was not that these thousand evangelists should all join the China Inland Mission, but that all denominations in Great Britain, America, and elsewhere should respond. The proposal was submitted to the reader as a subject for earnest prayer, especially as the great Conference in Shanghai was to meet in the following May to discuss the division of the Field. When the Conference did meet, Mr. Taylor preached the opening sermon, and took as his text : " Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness as to fill so great a multitude." The problem of reaching every creature was the underlying thought of his discourse upon this important occasion. " If," he said, " as an organized Conference we were to set ourselves to obey the command of our Lord to the full, we should have such an outpouring of the Spirit, such a Pentecost as the world has not seen since the Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem. God gives His Spirit not to those who long for Him, nor to those who pray for Him, nor to TO EVERY CREATURE 193 those who desire to be filled always, but He does give His Holy Spirit to them that obey Him. And if, as an act of obedience, we were to determine that every district, every town, every village, every hamlet in this land should hear the Gospel, and that speedily ; and if we were to set about doing it, I believe that the Spirit would come down with such mighty power that we should find loaves and fishes multiplying on every hand — we do not know whence or how. We should find the fire spreading from missionary to flock, and the Chinese Christians all on fire setting their neighbours on fire ; and our Chinese fellow-Chris- tians and the entire Church of God would be blessed. God gives His Holy Spirit to them that obey Him." The thought of sending out a United Appeal for a thousand new evangelists was earnestly commended to the Conference, and was ultimately adopted. It read as follows: — We do now appeal to you, the Protestant Churches of Christian lands, to send to China in response to these calls One Thousand Men within five years from this time. We make this appeal in behalf of three hundred millions of un- evangelized heathen; we make it with all the earnestness of our whole hearts, as men overwhelmed with the magnitude and responsi- bility of the work before us ; we make it with unwavering faith in the power of a risen Saviour to call men into His vineyard, and to open the hearts of those who are His stewards to send out and support them, and we shall not cease to cry mightily to Him that He will do this thing, and that our eyes may see it. On behalf of the Conference, J. Hudson Taylor. Committee Wm. Ashmore. H. Corbett. C. W. Mateer. LC. F. Reid. Shanghai, May 1890. Yet before this official Appeal had been issued, Mr. Taylor's earlier Leaflet had had a wide circulation which had begun to bear fruit. In Sweden and Norway at an even earlier date the Swedish Mission in China and the Norwegian China Mission had been organized, and the first thing that Mr. Taylor did after the issue of his Leaflet was o 194 THE THIRD DECADE to respond to a long-standing invitation to visit these countries. On November 3, 1889, Mr. Hudson Taylor, accompanied by Dr. Howard Taylor, arrived at Gotenberg, where they were met by Mr. Holmgren, the Secretary of the Swedish Mission in China, who had arranged the whole of their tour, and who was to be their genial companion and interpreter throughout. Twenty-four towns were visited, including Stockholm, Upsala and Christiania, and some fifty or sixty thousand persons were addressed, even Queen Sophia graciously inviting Mr. Taylor to a private audience in Stockholm. " In Scandinavia," wrote Mr. Taylor, " there are surely one hundred of the thousand additional missionary evangelists needed to carry the Gospel to every family in China." On all hands there were unmistakable evidences of spiritual blessing, and of a deepened interest in the work of evangehzing China, for which the two Missions associated with the C.I.M. had been brought into being. 1 During the same autumn a remarkable revival broke out in Elberfeld and Barmen in Rhineland, Germany, through the visit of the Rev. F. Franson, which led to the formation of the German China AUiance Mission during the following year. Mr. Franson, who was bom in Sweden in 1852, was a man of apostolic zeal and fervour. At the age of twenty-three he had joined Mr. Moody in his work, and had travelled for some six years as an evangelist in the United States, after which time he engaged in extensive evangehstic work in many parts of Europe. In the year 1888, he visited Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany, and about this time became deeply interested in the cause of Christ abroad. The reading of Mr. Taylor's Leaflet To Every Creature fired his heart with an intense enthusiasm, which kindled the flame of sacred love in many churches in Europe and America. In the meetings 'held jat Barmen, to quote the first letter 1 The Swedish Mission in China in January 1915 had fifty-one workers on the Field, and the Norwegian Mission in China had ten workers. For details concerning the Associate Missions see Appendix I., p. 357. TO EVERY CREATURE 195 addressed by the newly-formed German China AlHance Mission to the London Council : There has been told of the needs of China, and of the Appeal for one thousand workers by our dear brother Hudson Taylor. Hearts were opened and with them the hands, and already several hundred marks have been given for the evangelization of China. It v^as in consequence of this movement that a Council v/as formed, and Messrs. Franson and Emmanuel Olsson came over to England to lay their plans before the Council in London. The result was a happy association between these Christians in Germany and the China Inland Mission, and the first party, with Mr. Olsson as leader, reached Shanghai on December 3, 1890.^ But Mr. Franson's zeal was not satisfied with what had been accomplished in Europe, and so in the autumn of 1890 he started for North America, with the purpose of stirring up the Scandinavian Churches in that Continent to a realiza- tion of their duty to the heathen, and for two years he travelled from place to place with this one object in view. The result was the formation of the Scandinavian Alliance Mission, with its headquarters in Chicago, which Mission has sent forth workers to China, Japan, Mongolia, India, Tibet, Africa, and South America. Within three and a half months of Mr. Franson's landing in America, a band of no less than thirty-five men and women of earnest purpose had offered for China. The support of these friends had been guaranteed by the Scandinavian Churches which sent them forth, and more than five thousand dollars had been handed to Mr. Franson towards the general expenses. Tuesday morning, February 17, i89i,was a memorable day indeed, when this the largest missionary party ever known to arrive in China landed at Shanghai, and presented themselves at the Home of the China Inland Mission, especially as they brought the news that another party of fifteen more were on their way, and would probably arrive the following week. This second party, which made fift}^ 1 The German China Alliance in January 191 5 had thirty-seven workers on the Field. Their work is located in western Chekiang and south-east Kiangsi. 196 THE THIRD DECADE in all, eventually arrived on March 10, a remarkable Scandinavian contribution towards the desired thousand.^ " We have the inexpressible joy/' wrote Mr. Franson in the letter of introduction brought by the first party, "to be able to send thirty- five Mission-Evangehsts to help to fill out the number of one thousand according to the call of our dearly-beloved brother Hudson Taylor. . . . We did not succeed in bringing so many from Germany (at once at least) as we had expected. The success here is so much the greater. . . . Not only have these thirty-five their support secured, but another expedition of some ten will leave Omaha twelve days later than this one. We arranged it so that we do not send any who has not been used of God to blessing for souls. These thirty-five have been out on missionary tours lasting with some of them since last autumn. . . . The intention of this Mission is to be associated with the China Inland Mission, just as Mr. Folke (of the Swedish Mission in China) and Mr. Olsson (of the German China Alliance) are. . . . With the best thanks for all the kindness shown to us Scandinavians of the different Missions, as well as the German party, and hoping that you will extend the same fraternal feelings and sympathy to our present party. — I remain, yours sincerely in the Lord's Service, F. Franson. " Omaha, Nebraska, January 17, 1891." That the Mission was able to extend hospitahty in Shanghai to so large a party was only another illustration of the guiding hand of God by whom aU the body is fitly framed and knit together. A few years earlier it would not have been possible. From November 1873, when the Mission's first Business Centre was opened in Shanghai, up to February 1890, the rented premises ^ had been far from satisfactory or commodious, and yet for those occupied from the years 1885 to 1890 a costly rental of £30 per month had had to be paid, of which sum nearly one half was kindly contributed by a member of the Mission. In February 1890, 1 " God is working so wonderfully we need to take the shoes from off our feet and to walk very softly before Him." — J. Hudson Taylor, in a letter dated February 28, iSgi. ■i From November 1873 to September 1876, the C.I.M. premises were on the Broadway. From the latter date the C.I.M. station was vacant until April 1878, when premises were rented on the bank of the Soochow Creek. In 1880, when this house was pulled down, the Mission moved to Seward Road until a larger house was taken in Szechuan Road in 1884. In 1885 two adjoining houses were rented in the Yuen Ming Yuen buildings, until the Mission moved, in February 1890, to its present quarters. TO EVERY CREATURE 197 however, through the munificence of a devoted servant of God who had borne the whole expense of the site and buildings, the Mission entered into large and well-adapted premises of its own, which with some more recent additions it occupies to-day. Few gifts, if any, have been more serviceable to the work than this Compound in Shanghai, not only as a centre for the offices of the headquarter's staff, but as a Home for missionaries arriving in or leaving China, and for a thousand other purposes inseparable from the well-being of the work. Here, then, there was room for the welcome of this remark- able contingent of fifty new workers, even at a time when the China Council was in session, and when other parties from America, Australasia, and Great Britain were expected. Truly it was an evidence that He who sends forth the men and women does not forget v/hat things they have need of. While the story of the division of the Field and the location of all these new workers must be reserved for a special chapter, it may not be out of place to add a few more details concerning the Shanghai Compound, for if these premises proved so invaluable to the work in 1891, what have they not been in more recent years. It is estimated to-day, with the enhanced value of property in Shanghai, that these premises save the Mission a rent of no less than ;fiooo a year. Here, when the Chefoo Schools break up, or re- assemble, parents will come either to welcome or send off their children, making for a few days a sudden increase in the household of approximately one hundred persons, young and old together. Here, during the Boxer crisis or the more recent Revolution, a safe refuge has been found for many of those compelled to leave their stations, and sometimes as many as two hundred have been accommodated during these times of pressure. This does not mean that there are all the comforts of home-hfe for all these friends, for there are only thirty-one bedrooms available for those not on the permanent staff ; but to the missionary accustomed to Chinese inns, a bed on the floor — and he generally carries his own bedding — in the hall, offices, or attics, is gratefully welcomed when others cannot be had. To give some 198 THE THIRD DECADE figures, gathered during the writer's recent visit to China — In January 191 2, when the Revolution was at its height, and the children of the missionaries were on their way to the Chef 00 Schools, 190 persons stayed in the Home, and for the twelve months from October 191 1 to September 1912, which was a period of considerable unrest, the aggregate of those who passed through this Home in Shanghai — many, of course, more than once — was no less than 1333. Many and many times the story has been told of how God has supplied the needed funds for the work of the Mission. No less wonderful is the way He has provided, often by special gifts, the premises needed for so large an organization. And the premises at Shanghai are one of the most remarkable of the standing monuments of a Heavenly Father's care. At the entrance is the following inscription : " These premises have been erected to the Glory OF God and the furtherance of His Kingdom in China, WITH Funds specially contributed for the purpose." " May God's Glory^ and the furtherance of His Kingdom be ever our aim, and no less object,'' wrote Mr. Taylor after first entering this Home. " I feel glad/' he added, " that the C.I.M. was not even mentioned in the inscription." The Fiiist Austhalasian Pakty. Top Row.—Miss Aspinall (Mrs. Allen), [Montasn Beauchainp], F. Burdon, A. S. Derenisli, Miss E. Fysh. Centre Row.— Miss Lloyd (Mrs. Dr. Williams), Miss Reed (Mrs. Fvsh) [J. Hudson Taylor], Miss Steel (Mrs. Goold), Miss M. E. Bootli. Front Eoiv. — O. Burgess, Miss Sorenson (Mrs. Strong), A. C. Rogers, Miss F. Box. To face ixige 1 99. XXX AUSTRALASIA The wave of missionary enthusiasm which swept over North America, Scandinavia, and Germany was almost simultaneously felt in Australasia. This was surely no accidental coincidence, but only another proof that He who had bidden His disciples pray the Lord of the Harvest to thrust forth labourers, was Himself hearing and answering prayer. While the Leaflet To Every Creature was being written in England, the hearts of some of God's servants in Australasia were being burdened with China's need. To quote the words of the Rev. Alfred Bird, the first Honorary Secretary of the C.I.M. Council in Melbourne : Towards the close of 1889 the hearts of four ministers of the Gospel in Melbourne — two Episcopahans (the Rev. H. B. Macartney and the Rev. Charles H. Parsons), one Presbyterian (Rev. Lockhart Morton), and one Baptist (Rev. Alfred Bird) — were stirred in a very special manner to consider and pray over the awful needs of China as the greatest heathen continent in the world, and the heathen continent geographically and commercially the nearest to Australasia. Although these ministers were close personal friends, the conviction that the Church of Christ in Australasia ought to assist in sending the Gospel to China was not a conviction caught from one another, or produced as the result of mutual conference, but one that came upon them separately and simultaneously. One of the four, the Rev. Charles H. 199 200 THE THIRD DECADE Parsons, volunteered to go to China, and after some corre- spondence, he was accepted by the Rev. H. B. Macartney, whom Mr. Taylor had empowered to act on his behalf in the matter. Without delay Mr. Parsons sailed, and reached Shanghai on April 29, 1890, just before the great Missionary Conference. The three remaining brethren met on several occasions to consider how best the God-inspired desire for the evangeli- zation of China could be fulfilled, and concluded that the faith principles and interdenominational character of the C.LM. made it an agency with which the Churches in Australasia could happily co-operate. When it came to their knowledge that Mr. Philip Kitchen — subsequently the Treasurer of the Mission in Australasia — was an old and tried friend of the Mission, they took him into their con- sultations. The result was that a letter was sent to Mr. Taylor, giving some account of what had happened, and naming the brethren interested. In the interval between the sending of this letter and the receiving of Mr. Taylor's reply. Miss Mary Reed of Tasmania, who had shortly before been invalided home from China, was invited to Victoria for the purpose of holding a series of drawing-room meetings, which were attended with considerable blessing. Before these meet- ings in Victoria she had been similarly used in Tasmania, in fact so much so that Mr. George Soltau, not many days before Mr. Parsons had sailed from Melbourne, had written to Mr. Taylor proposing the formation of an Australasian Council. It was abundantly evident that God was leading the Mission towards new developments, and Mr. Taylor, after he had had the benefit of personal conversation with Mr. Parsons in Shanghai, cabled to Australia authorizing the formation of a Local Council. This cable was dispatched on May 21, the day after the close of the Shanghai Con- ference, and Mr. Taylor's own birthday. On the following day a meeting was held in one of the rooms of the Colhns Street Baptist Church, Melbourne, to form the Australasian Council of the China Inland Mission. The Rev. H. B. AUSTRALASIA 201 Macartney presided, and the following with their Chairman constituted this first Council : Rev. Samuel Chapman, Rev. W. L. Morton, Rev. Alfred Bird, Mr. Philip Kitchen, Rev. D. O'Donnell, Pastor George Soltau, and Dr. Flett. Mr. Bird was appointed Honorary Secretary, and Mr. Philip Kitchen Treasurer. At this first meeting the names of e'ight candidates were mentioned as having applied to go to China, four of whom were afterwards accepted and sent. Towards the close of July Mr. Hudson Taylor, accom- panied by Mr. Montagu Beauchamp, sailed from Shanghai for Australia, with the purpose of meeting this newly-formed Council and more thoroughly organizing the work. Meetings were held at Newcastle, Sydney, Geelong, Melbourne, Caul- field, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston, and other centres, and Mr. Taylor asked, wdth the Shanghai Conference appeal for a thousand workers still fresh in his mind, that Australasia might send out a hundred. As had been the case in North America and elsewhere, the faith and courage of many Christians were stimulated by the meetings held, and over sixty candidates offered for the Field. Of these eleven were accepted, four from Victoria, three from Tasmania, three from South Australia, and one from New South Wales. This group of workers constituted the first Australasian contingent in connection with the C.I.M., and sailed from Sydney in company with Mr. Taylor on November 20. They were followed in January of the next year by a band of three men, and in the following March by a party of ladies, under the escort of Mr. and Mrs. John Southey, by which time all the Colonies except Western Australia were repre- sented in the Mission. Auxiliary Councils had been formed by Mr. Taylor at Sydney and Brisbane, and similar Councils were subsequently estabhshed at Adelaide, as well as at Auckland and Dunedin in New Zealand, the two latter as one result of a visit by Mr. George Nicoll. Under the helpful influences of the devoted Honorary Secretary, Mr. Bird, the work was both 202 THE THIRD DECADE developed and consolidated until his retirement in 1893. In 1895, after the return of Mr. Thomas Selkirk to Bhamo, who during 1894-95 had been Acting-Secretary, Mr. Charles Fletcher Whitridge, who had been Honorary Secretary of the Adelaide Auxiliary Council from its commencement, was appointed Secretary at Melbourne, which post he held until his lamented death from typhoid fever on April 24, 1906. On September 26, 1899, ^^- Hudson Taylor, this time accompanied by his wife, left for his second visit to Australasia, and on arriving at Brisbane, heard the good news that the last of the Hundred prayed for for China had crossed him on the way. Considerable changes had taken place in the personnel of the Council during these years, and at the Tenth Annual Meeting, held on the tenth anniversary of the first Council Meeting, it was reported that only one of the original Council still remained with them. Mr. Philip Kitchen, their first Treasurer, who was said to have hved for the Mission next to Christ, had passed to his Heavenly reward ; the Rev. Samuel Chapman, prince of Australian Preachers, had gone to be with His Master ; Mr. Macartney and others were scattered in the Lord's Service in different parts of the earth, but the blessing which had been given was not to be traced to the ordinary sources of human success, but was the result of the faithfulness of an unchangeable God. During Mr. Taylor's first visit many persons had thought that the appeal for a Hundred was a tremendous request to make, but at these Annual Meetings it was reported that altogether one hundred and one persons, forty-five men and fifty-six women, had gone forth during the ten years, out of about four hundred applications. Twelve of these had left the Mission for different reasons, and four had died, one of whom was WilHam S. Fleming, the first C.I.M. martyr. In December 1908, Mr. John Southey,^ who, after a brief experience in China, had for some years been the leader of 1 Mr. Southey had been Vicar of Ipswich, Queensland, from May 1887 to March 1891. Hearing of Mr. Taylor's visit to Melbourne in 1890, he invited him to call at Brisbane and Ipswich on his way back to China. Mr. Taylor replied saying that it would be impossible as he was fully AUSTRALASIA 203 the work in Australasia, was, with the approval of the representatives of the Mission in the various States of Austraha and New Zealand, appointed by Mr. D. E. Hoste as Home Director for Australasia, Mr. James H. Todd being his colleague as Secretary, and Dr. J. J. Kitchen, the esteemed and honoured Treasurer. We must not attempt to follow in detail the varied development of the work in Australasia. Suffice it to say that the work has been prospered and blessed, so that the present Aus- tralasian contingent amounts to 124 workers, of whom 52 are men and 72 women. ^ We must return now in thought to the period referred to at the beginning of this chapter. During the years 1888 to 1891 the Mission had enjoyed a period of unprecedented expansion through the welcome reinforcements received from North America, Australasia, and the Associate Scandi- navian and German Missions. One hundred new workers from Great Britain in 1887 was a great thing, but so far as China was concerned the five months from October 18, 1890, to March 21, 189 1, was more remarkable still, for during this short period no less than 126 new workers were welcomed by the Mission in Shanghai, all of whom the Mission was able to receive in the new Shanghai premises. Yet let not the reader think that all was smooth and easy sailing, for seldom has the Mission passed through stormier or more troubled waters. The year 1891 was memorable for the prevalence of riots, especially in the Yangtze Valley ; for great pohtical disquiet, and for the threat enings of war. There was much sickness, and some of the Mission's most valued workers were removed by engaged up to the day of departure. A widely-extended Strike, however, delayed all shipping, and made this unpremeditated \dsit possible, and it was this visit which led to Mr. Southey joining the ^Mission. 1 In April 1891 an Occasional Paper as supplement to the Southern Cross was published, and the first issue of the Australasian China's Millions commenced in January 1893. The first offices were at 19 Queen's Walk, opened in November 1893. These were vacated, however, in December 1897 for the present quarters at 267 Collins Street. The first Mission Home was in the suburb of Hawksburn. This was subsequently sold, by permission of the generous donor, and a larger and more commodious Home secured at Coppin's Grove, Hawthorn. In 1906 an Auxiliary Office was opened in Sydney. 204 THE THIRD DECADE death, 1 to which trials may be added unusually prolonged financial straitness, and both private and public criticism of the work. What all the strain meant, both to the workers and leaders, can hardly be better conveyed to the reader than by the following extract from a semi-private letter written by Mr. Taylor at Shanghai in June 1891 : In any case, we are the servants of the living God, and He is able to protect, or to give grace to suffer ; and it is well that He is the living God, and that we are His servants and know it. Even you, dear Mr. Howard, can scarcely realize what it is to be out here, to know and love our dear workers, to hear of their sorrows and diffi- culties, their disappointments and their strifes ; of sickness here needing arrangements for succour if possible, receiving telegrams asking for direction in peril, or telling it may be of death ; accounts coming in of massacre and arson, and all the untold incidents of our ever varying experience — not to speak of the ordinary responsibilities and the pecuniary claims of a Mission now approaching 500 in number. There is just one way to avoid being overwhelmed, to bring every- thing, as it arises, to our Master, and He does help and He does not misunderstand. It is not altogether to be wondered at that the adversary was making a hard set against the work, for following upon this period of rapid expansion came a time of quite un- wonted blessing. Many of the workers upon the Field were led to seek the fulness of the Spirit, and not a few of the members of the Mission still date from that period an entry upon a deeper and fuller spiritual experience. Even the meetings of the China Council were suspended for special prayer. The Minute for April 16, 1892, reads : 1 Herbert L. Norris, the beloved Headmaster of the Chefoo Boys' School, died on September 27, 1888, from hydrophobia incurred through the bite of a mad dog when he was protecting the scholars under his care. Adam Dorward, the Superintendent of the work in Hunan, died on October 2, 1888, after having devoted eight years to pioneer work in Hunan. George Stott, who opened Wenchow in 1867, built up a strong station, and laboured there for twenty-three years. He died on April 23, 1889. Mrs. Meadows, one of the Lanitnermuir party, died November 3, 1890. Dr. James Cameron, the great pioneer- traveller, died on August 14, 1892. Only a few names can be mentioned here, and these are the senior workers. AUSTRALASIA 205 Instead of meeting for conference, the China Council united with the members of the Mission in Shanghai in seeking for themselves, the whole Mission in China, and the Home Councils, the filling of the Spirit. And these prayers, as has been already indicated, were not in vain. XXXI DIVIDING THE FIELD To readers of the Book of Joshua, who are unfamihar with the geography and topography of Palestine, the details of the division of the land among the various tribes, accom- panied with all the particulars of borders and cities, may not be interesting reading. The arrangements, however, were necessary and essential to good government, and the same is true of the Mission-fields of the world. The measure of our interest in such geographical divisions will generally be gauged by our knowledge of the countries concerned, and lest a multiplicity of detail should weary the reader, only the bare outline of important divisions of territory will be referred to in this chapter. The rapid growth of the Mission — the constitution of which is interdenominational rather than undenominational — accompanied as it had been by large reinforcements from different countries, soon raised the important question of special spheres of service. Though it is required of all who join the Mission that they shall be able to have fellowship with members of Protestant denominations other than their own, and though it is recognized that it is not desirable that those features of a particular denomination which are due to social, political, and other national influences at home, should be repeated on the Field, the policy of the Mission affords scope for the development on evangelical lines of each and all of the different Protestant denominations. In this way the C.I.M. seeks to be the servant and helper of each and all the Churches, and affords an outlet for evangelical 206 DIVIDING THE FIELD 207 workers belonging to all denominations, many of whom possibly might otherwise be precluded from engaging in organized work in China. In addition to the necessity of grouping workers with denominational preferences together, there were other problems arising from Associate workers coming from different countries, speaking different languages, having independent financial arrangements, and responsible to separate Home organizations. To meet the varying situa- tions thus occasioned, a division of the Field had to be faced as the need arose. In the year 1886, five members of the Cambridge Band, Messrs. Cassels, Beauchamp, Studd, and Cecil and Arthur Polhill visited the province of Szechwan, in which there were then only nine missionary workers. In October of the following year the Rev. W. W. Cassels received from Dr. George Moule, who as Bishop in Mid-China had nominal Episcopal jurisdiction over Szechwan, a license to take charge of the work in the Paoning district, in which work he was joined by Messrs. Arthur Polhill, Montagu Beauchamp, and others who desired to work in connection with the Church of England. To facilitate this arrangement, eastern Szechwan was allotted to them as their particular sphere of service. The Kialing River, which enters the Yangtze at Chung- king, was taken as the boundary, and all Szechwan east of this became known as the C.I.M. Church of England sphere. In the year 1892, the Church Missionary Society responded to the importunate requests of the Rev. J. Heywood Hors- burgh, and sent out a band of men and women under his leadership, which band became closely identified with these Church of England workers in Szechwan, especially during the early years. In 1894 these C.M.S. workers were enabled to occupy five cities within a district lying to the west of Paoning, and this district, extending to the borders of Tibet, is known as the C.M.S. sphere in Szechw^an. By this time Bishop Moule had given licenses to three or four Church of England members of the C.I.M., and as he found himself 2o8 THE THIRD DECADE unable to visit a part of his diocese two thousand miles away, both he and the C.M.S. at home addressed the Archbishop of Canterbury suggesting a sub-division of his diocese. The man who approved himself to them as the most suitable for the new office thus formed was the Rev. W. W. Cassels, with the result that the C.M.S. in the most friendly and cordial manner approached the C.LM. to see if such a proposal would be approved. As an illustration of. the spirit which both prompted this approach and has governed all relationships since, we cannot do better than quote one paragraph from the C.M.S. official letter on this subject. " It is indeed/' wrote the Rev. B. Baring-Gould, the Secretary of the C.M.S. under date of July 12, 1895, " a comfort for us to know that you will join your prayers with ours that this scheme, if carried out, may be overruled for the deepening and extending of the Church of Christ in western China ; and that the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Ghost may be vouchsafed in rich abundance to him who, as we trust, will be called of God to exercise so momentous and blessed an influence over the infant Church in western China, and that, as we trust, for many years to come." The C.M.S. guaranteed the Episcopal stipend, the C.LM. heartily approved of the nomination, and Archbishop Benson, with warm interest and " with all his usual graciousness," appointed the C.LM. leader in Szechwan to the new Bishopric. The first public announcement, so Dr. Eugene Stock tells us, was made at the great Saturday Missionary Meeting at Keswick, and drew forth much prayerful sympathy and interest, and on October 18, 1895, the Rev. W. W. Cassels was consecrated as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Western China. A week later he sailed for this far - distant sphere of service, and from Shanghai addressed a characteristic letter to the missionary workers in his new diocese, headed with these words : "I am but a little child " ; " Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst " ; "A little child shall lead them." Bishop Cassels still remains a member of the C.LM., though as Bishop he is also upon the C.M.S. roll of mission- aries, and in him the Mission has a unique and valued hnk DIVIDING THE FIELD 209 with our brethren of another Society. Loyal to his con- victions as a Churchman, he illustrates in a peculiar degree the possibility of that motto : " All one in Christ Jesus," for which the C.LM. seeks to stand. How truly he is in sympathy with the C.LM. lines is shown by the following sentences taken from an address given in England shortly before his consecration. Speaking upon one of the C.LM. mottoes " Ebenezer," he said : There is the Hitherto of Blessing. God has blessed us as a Mission ; He has blessed our leaders ; He has blessed our organization ; and I should be robbing God of His glory if I did not testify that He has been blessing me as an individual. . . . Again, there is the Hitherto of Helping. I wonder if I may stop to draw back the curtain for a moment that God may be glorified. Take one instance. Suppose you were just about to be married, and suddenly you were robbed of your silver and the greater part of your clothing. You would consider yourself in rather an uncomfortable predicament. But supposing that very night you received a cheque in a most unusual and exceptional manner, sent off weeks before, would you not say that God was taking care of you, and perhaps wanted to provide for you that new outfit, on such an occasion, which you had denied yourself ? That, at any rate, is what we said. Or again, supposing that your funds had come to an end, and from day to day you cast yourself upon the Lord with prayer and fasting, with a God-given confidence and holy joy, no one but He knowing your circumstances, and suppose that the day before some special amount had to be met you received the exact sum put into your hands in a most exceptional manner, would not a thrill of gratitude go through you, as you recognized God's hand ? That, at any rate, was the case with me. Without following in such detail the development of denominational districts elsewhere, it may perhaps suffice to indicate that the Mission has arranged for a Methodist district in Yunnan for those who desire to work upon Methodist lines, and Presbyterian districts in east Chekiang, north Anhwei, and north-west Hunan, this later district being opened by the Rev. George Hunter, a Scotch Presby- terian minister, as will be related more fully in Chapter XXXV. on the Opening of Hunan. We must now turn to consider those divisions of territory p 210 THE THIRD DECADE connected with the Associate Missions. In the early summer of 1894 Mr. Hudson Taylor felt that certain problems which were threatening the usefulness and very existence of some of the Associate Missions made it necessary for him, despite the summer heat, to visit without delay some of the stations inland. In consequence, he and his wife, accompanied by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor and Mr. J. J. Coulthard, left Hankow on May 22. The first stage, a distance of 270 miles to Chowkiakow in Honan, was traversed by means of barrows, from which station the party took carts to Sianfu, the capital of Shensi, nearly 500 miles to the north-west. This city was reached on June 26, and an important Con- ference was held with the members of the Scandinavian Alliance Mission, which Conference, among other things, led to a demarkation of their sphere of service. Up to this time some of the workers of this Mission had been located in the north, some in Chekiang, and others in Kiangsi. Now it was arranged that a district extending from Sianfu to the north-west, including the adjacent parts of eastern Kansu, was to be considered as apportioned to them. It was agreed that the workers still resident in the south should be given the opportunity of coming north, and this transfer of workers took place during the following year, when Mr. Franson personally visited China. From Sianfu Mr. Taylor and party crossed over into Shansi, the station of Yiincheng being reached on July 10. What such a journey meant in the height of summer may be gathered from the fact that at times the thermometer stood at 120° F. in the carts in which the party travelled, with the result that Mr. Taylor was for a time seriously indis- posed. At Yiincheng, the centre of the Swedish Mission in China, a two days' Conference was held, when it was agreed that that Mission should work in the ten Hsiens of Tungchowfu in Shensi, and in the six Hsiens of Puchowfu and four Hsiens of Haichow in Shansi. The work of this Mission, however, subsequently spread across the Yellow River into the north-west of Honan, until their field has now become so enlarged as to include 38 Hsien districts in the three provinces of Shensi, Shansi, and Honan. DIVIDING THE FIELD 211 From Yiincheng, Mr. Taylor proceeded north, holding a Conference at Pingyangfu on July 17, when a company of thirty-five missionaries were gathered together. Memorable visits were also paid to the home of Pastor Hsi, and to other stations on the line of route along the great North Road, some of the results of which were that the Mission decided to retire from its stations outside the northern arm of the Great Wall in favour of the Christian Missionary Alliance, which was working there and expected large reinforcements. This Mission, however, suffered so severely through the Boxer outbreak a few years later, that it was not able to reoccupy this territory, which subsequently became the sphere of the Swedish Alliance Mission associated with the C.I.M. Another issue was that the members of the Swedish Holiness Union expressed their desire to concentrate their efforts upon the district between the two arms of the Great Wall in Shansi. This proposal was favourably considered, though it was not actually made operative until Mr. Taylor visited Sweden two years later. Among other results of this journey and a subsequent visit to the provinces, new arrange- ments were made for the superintendence of the work in parts of Shansi and Chihli by Mr. D. E. Hoste and Mr. Bagnall respectively, and Mr. Botham was appointed as Assistant Superintendent to help Mr. Easton in Shensi and eastern Kansu. Though it belongs to a much later period, it is well not to leave these northern provinces without mentioning that the Norwegian Mission in China, also associated with the C.I.M. , has had its sphere located in the north-west mountain district of Shansi, and the Norwegian Alliance Mission has made the city of Lungchiichai in Shensi the centre of its operations. In the south of China, a special district in Chekiang, with Chuchow for its centre, had been allocated to the German China Alliance in 1893, and six years later, owing to the growth of the work of this Mission, its sphere was increased by the addition of another contiguous district across the border of the province in the south-east of Kiangsi. Later still it was decided that the Liebenzell Mission should 212 THE THIRD DECADE be located in Hunan, which Mission is now responsible, so far as the CJ.M. is concerned, for the greater part of that province. The details of this, however, will be reserved to another chapter speaking more fully of work in that province. THE FOURTH DECADE 1895-1905 Chap. 32. The Wrath of Man. ^^. Newington Green. 34. The Chefoo Schools. 35. The Opening of Hunan. 36. Among the Tribes. 37. The Boxer Crisis. 38. Partakers of the Afflictions of the Gospel. 39. Rebuilding the Wall. 21:3 I hold not my life of any account, as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God. Sr. Paul. But I do humbly conceive that when we devote ourselves to missionary work, we should lay our all, yea, and our lives too, upon the missionary altar ; and then come joy, come sorrow ; come success, come disappoint- ment ; come sickness, come health ; come life, come death ; all, and everything, shall be a sweet privilege in the service of such a Master as Jesus Christ. Rev. Samuel Dyer. O that I had a martyr's heart, if not a martyr's death and a martyr's crown ! J. Hudson Taylor. XXXII THE WRATH OF MAN No period of China's history is more pregnant with moment- ous events than the new decade upon which the Mission entered in 1895. Three times since the death of Dr. Robert Morrison in 1834, China had been engaged in war with Foreign Powers, namely, during the Opium War of 1840, the Arrow War of i860, and the War with France in 1884. Each of these terrible occasions had been used by God, who maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, to open more fully the doors of China to the Gospel. Yet during the more than fifty odd years which had elapsed between the first of these wars in 1840 and the opening of the new decade of which we now desire to speak, events had moved but slowly. Chinese opposition, it is true, had reluctantly yielded before the force majeure of Western Powers, but after each conflict China had sought to settle down again into her former self-complacent ways. With the year 1895, however, a new era dawned in which history was to march forward with an almost incredible rapidity. This change dates from China's war with Japan, when China's pride and self-confidence were to be rudely shaken by the crushing defeat she experienced at the hands of her hitherto much -despised island neighbour. And this war was only the prelude of more far-reaching troubles, for China's humiliation was followed by widespread riots, by sad massacres, by the seizure of Chinese territory by Foreign Powers, by the coup d'etat of 1898, by the Boxer crisis of 1900, and finally by the terrific war, fought upon 215 2i6 THE FOURTH DECADE Chinese soil, between Russia and Japan, which was to usher in a new epoch in the history of the world. With the immediate cause of the war between China and Japan we have no concern here. The conflict opened at sea on July 25, 1894, and practically closed by the fall of Weihaiwei in February 1895, after the total destruction of the Chinese Fleet and the capture of Port Arthur. This humiliating and thorough defeat by the Japanese fairly staggered China, and compelled her to face the facts of modern life as she had never done before. During these months of strife, missionary work had continued throughout the greater part of the country without much let or hindrance,^ but with the disbanding of the Chinese soldiery and the slow awakening of the people to the real facts of their defeat — for false victories had at first been sedulously circulated — serious disturbances broke out. The first outbreaks were in the Far West, and possibly were but indirectly connected with the war. On May 28, 1895, the Canadian Methodist Mission premises, in the capital of Szechwan, were attacked and destroyed, and on the following day the remaining Protestant and Roman Catholic Missions in the same city shared the same fate. As the news of these riots spread, it was like a spark to gunpowder, for rioting of a more or less serious nature speedily followed in Kwanhsien, Kiating, Suifu, Luchow, Paoning, and other places where the C.LM. had stations. The officials, happily, in most cases, gave what protection they could to those in danger, so that mercifully no lives were lost, though subsequent investigation proved that the Viceroy was personally implicated. So widespread and threatening was the trouble that a large number of Protestant missionaries left the province, including a few of the C.LM. Yet many of those who suffered the loss of all things and experienced no small nervous strain, referred bravely and brightly to their trials. Mrs. Ririe, for instance, wrote : ^ We do not here refer to Manchuria, where the C.I.M. has no work, and where the Rev. J. WyHe of the United Free Church Mission was murdered by Manchu soldiers on August lo, 1894. THE WRATH OF MAN 217 Dr. Hart thought we ought to go down river with them^ and semt a boat across for us^ but we preferred to go to the Yamen. We shall wait here, God willing, till the students are gone in three weeks' time. The Mandarin sends our meals very nicely done up in Chinese fashion, so there is no reason whatever for you to fret. We will, D.V., begin over again as soon as possible, if the Consul permits us to stay. We are all of one mind : " Do not go till we have to." Our hearts are at peace and God's promises are our stay. We are among the blessed to-day, and far better off than our Master, who had nowhere to lay His head. We have comfortable beds and slept soundly. While these troubles were proceeding in the v^est, a serious persecution of Chinese Christians commenced among some of the Mission's converts at Pingyanghsien in Chekiang. Twenty-two families had their houses and possessions destroyed, and fifty-nine persons w^ere compelled to seek shelter in the Mission premises at the central station. And then right in the midst of this time of stress and strain, came like a thunderbolt the terrible news of the massacre of the Church Missionary Society's and the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society's workers, at the little mountain retreat of Hwasang, Kucheng, on August i. Though the terrible news was received with a burst of horror and sympathy from the whole civilized world, and a cry for vengeance arose in certain quarters, yet, by the grace of God, nothing was expressed at the great meeting, held in Exeter Hall, but " pity for the misguided murderers, thanks- giving for the lives of the martyrs, and fervent desires for the evangelization of China " ; and the committee of the C.M.S., among eight resolutions adopted on this occasion, desired To place on record their unfaltering belief that no disasters, however great, should be allowed to interfere with the prosecution of that purpose for which the society exists, namely, the evangelization of the world, which in its divine origin is without conditions. Unfortunately, the troubles did not cease with this sad massacre in Fukien. In the far north-west a terrible Mohammedan rebellion broke out, which devastated large tracts of country, and resulted in the loss of countless lives. During this time, Mr. and Mrs. Ridley, with their little son, 2i8 THE FOURTH DECADE a'nd Mr. Hall, all of the C.I.M., were shut up for many months in Siningfu, one of the besieged cities. For five and a half months no communication reached these workers, not even from their nearest mission station, and for nine months they were without letters or supplies. Yet God was with them, and in many remarkable ways provided for them.^ During this anxious and trying time these besieged friends in Siningfu were enabled to attend over iioo wounded people, to treat 900 cases of diphtheria, and dispense medicine to hundreds of others suffering from varying complaints, and in this way they were enabled to do more to teach the people of those parts, who had hitherto been unfriendly, that there was a living and loving God, than would have been possible during many years of ordinary service. But even this does not complete the list of sorrows. Early in October cholera entered the Mission compound at Wenchow, Chekiang, and within a few days three beloved missionaries, five Chinese converts, and one child had succumbed. The schools had to be disbanded, and the ordinary work of the station suspended. In addition to all these troubles, the Mission was sustaining the trial of shortness of funds. Yet in the midst of all these multiplied anxieties, God was working and giving blessing. In 1895 the Mission was able to rejoice that more converts had been baptized than in any previous year, and in 1896, which was the first year when the baptisms rose into four figures, there was a further increase of fully 50 per cent, and this increase in blessing was common to other Societies. The British and Foreign Bible Society, for instance, reported that though only five and three-quarter million copies of the Scriptures had been circulated in China in the more than eighty years from 18 13 — when Dr. Morrison's translation of the New Testament was printed — up to the close of 1895, the next four years alone showed a circulation of over two and a half million copies. The years which followed the war were, in not a few 1 See Faith and Facts, pp. 46-52. Morgan & Scott, Ltd. One shilling net. THE WRATH OF MAN 219 places, times of much blessing. Therefore, rather than be discouraged by the long-continued trials, Mr. Taylor actually appealed for more prayer and more helpers. It will be remembered that an official appeal for a thousand men within five years had been issued after the Shanghai Mis- sionary Conference of 1890. When these five years had expired, Mr. Hudson Taylor published a small leaflet which showed that although God's answer had been somewhat other than the request, yet 1153 new workers had arrived in China during the five years succeeding the Conference. Instead of a thousand men, God had sent 481 men and 672 women. As this leaflet was published just at the time when peace was signed between China and Japan, Mr. Taylor wrote : An important crisis in China's history has been reached. The war just terminated does not leave her where she stood. It will inevitably lead to a still wider opening of the empire and to many new developments. If the Church of Christ does not enter into the opening doors, others will. ... In view of the new facilities and enlarged claims of China, the next five years should see a larger reinforcement than that called for in 1890. Will not the Church arise and take immediate and adequate action to meet the pressing needs of this vast land ? XXXIII NEWINGTON GREEN As the new decade opened with changed conditions in China, so it also saw changes in the Home department in Great Britain. Three somewhat clearly marked stages are easily discernible in the work at home, each stage associated with one of the three centres. East Grinstead,^ Pyrland Road,^ and Newington Green. When Mr. Berger retired in 1872,2 there were about thirty workers on the field ; when Mr. Broomhall retired in 1895, and the offices were removed from Pyrland Road to Newington Green, the membership had risen to 630. With the advent of Mr. and Mrs. Broom- hall at Pyrland Road in the early summer of 1875, their home had been opened to the many candidates who, during what was the Mission's most rapid period of growth, stayed in London. During these years, to quote the Council Minutes of 1895 : It was the privilege of candidates for China to be welcomed into the happy home circle at No. 2 Pyrland Road^ where in Mr. and Mrs. Broomhall a great many of our members now labouring in China found a second father and mother. It became evident, however, some time before the actual retirement of Mr. Broomhall, that the work was passing beyond the stage when the most expansive of homes — and ^ See Chapters XIII. and XVIII., pp. 79 and 116. 2 Mr. Berger, who died on January 9, 1899, aged eighty-four, maintained his interest in the work to the last. One signal illustration of this was his gift of ;^40oo in 1889, to found a Superannuation Fund for worn-out missionaries. NEWINGTON GREEN 221 it is wonderful how expansive love can make a home — could compass what was necessary. With the object of building special premises, as soon as God supphed the funds, Inglesby House, a large, old-fashioned dwelling with exten- sive gardens behind, situated on Newington Green, close to Pyrland Road, was purchased in September 1887. This house at first afforded some much-needed accommodation for the men candidates, who still boarded at Pyrland Road, but it gradually became the centre of the Men's Candidate Department, Mr. Marcus Wood, who had had eight years' experience in China, taking charge in October 1890. Several changes in the leadership of this Home have taken place, the writer having been in residence there for nearly nine years, and Mr. J. B. Martin — who has recently been appointed Assistant Secretary — since the autumn of 1908. Similar changes were made in regard to the women candidates. In June 1889, a Ladies' Council was formed, the first meeting of this Auxiliary Council, which has so materially assisted the work, taking place on September 23, 1889, Miss H. E. Soltau being appointed Honorary Secretary. Two houses in Pyrland Road, Nos. 41 and 41 A, were rented for offices and training -home purposes, this Home being moved to its present locality, 90 and 92 Grosvenor Road, in June 1903. Throughout the more than twenty-five years which have elapsed since these arrangements were in- augurated. Miss Soltau has, with a keen zeal for China's evangelization and a loving care for all who have come under her roof, conducted this department. From the early days many candidates had offered from north of the Tweed, and for some years prior to 1889, a few friends had kindly acted as referees in Scotland, ^.but in October 1889, a Scottish Auxiliary Council was formed to consider more thoroughly the cases of candidates who apphed, and to help in the development of the work locally. For some years Mr. William Oates of Glasgow kindly acted as Honorary Secretary, but subsequently Mr. G. Graham Brown was appointed Secretary. In these ways the pressure of work was being gradually 222 THE FOURTH DECADE taken from the over-burdened shoulders of Mr. and Mrs. Broomhall, for though all through the abnormally busy years when " the Seventy " and " the Hundred " sailed, all the candidates had been lovingly welcomed into their home, such a procedure obviously had its limitations. Meanwhile the new premises on Newington Green were being erected, the heavy outlay both for the purchase of the land and for the erection of the buildings being made possible through one or two munificent donations given for this purpose. With the opening of the month of April 1895, the transfer of offices from Pyrland Road to Newington Green took place, and with this change synchronized Mr. Broomhall' s retirement. During his years of service at Pyrland Road he had laboured in a way that few men could have endured physically, for his almost invariable custom had been not to cease his day's work until the neighbouring midnight post had gone. " Few probably are aware/' reads the special Minute of the London Council, " of the immense amount of labour accomplished by Mr. Broomhall in past days, when he was assisting Mr. Taylor in the early and rapid development of the Mission, and when he was almost single- handed doing the work now divided among several, and they feel that no words of theirs can adequately express all that the Mission owes to his untiring energy and unbounded labours." By means of his powers of persuasion, his personal influence, his undaunted resolution, and his genius for winning friends, openings for the advocacy of the cause of China were gained in most of the large towns and cities of Great Britain. And his tenacity of purpose enabled him, in the years of life that still remained after his retirement, to do yeoman service in the cause for securing the cessation of the Opium Traffic between India and China. And what Mr. Broomhall was in the more public sphere, Mrs. Broomhall was in the home, caring for the pressing claims of her large family, assisting with the outfitting of those about to sail, and ever engaging — and stimulating others to do the same — in prevailing prayer for the work at home and abroad. By her devotion to the cause, her love and unselfish care for NEWINGTON GREEN 223 those engaged in the work, she has won an imperishable place in the affection of all who know her. It was perhaps inevitable that the work should, whilst gaining much in efficiency by the development of its organiza- tion, lose something by its transfer from the family circle to more business-like quarters. Yet though conditions may have changed, the homelike spirit still remains, and is carefully cultivated in the various Training and Mission Home Centres. Without attempting to follow all the developments which have taken place since this transfer to Newington Green twenty years ago, it may be said that the increase in the Mission's membership — if the associates be included — has been from 630 to 1076, and this has inevitably entailed increased responsibihties, and has led to departmental developments. In the spring of 1893, two years before the change of offices, Mr. W. B. Sloan had been called home from China, after a brief period of service, to become colleague to Mr. Broomhall, so that when the latter retired, Mr. Sloan was happily acquainted with the details of the work. For the ten years dating from the spring of 1893 to the spring of 1903, Mr. Sloan served as Secretary, two years in fellowship with Mr. Broomhall, two years alone, and then for nearly six years with Mr. Marcus Wood, who had for the two preceding years been labouring throughout the country as Deputation Secretary. In the spring of 1903, in consequence of Mr. Taylor's enforced retirement from active participation in the Home affairs of the Mission, Mr. Sloan was relieved of his Secre- tarial duties that he might be free, as Assistant Home Director — Mr. Theodore Howard being Home Director — to devote attention to the varied needs of the Mission, and particularly to develop, throughout the country and the Church at large, a deeper sense of responsibility for the spread of the Gospel in China. In London Mr. Wood has continued to bear the heavy burden of the Secretary's office, while the various departments have been steadily developed and made more efficient. In 1901, the writer, after more than eight years' experience in various parts of 224 THE FOURTH DECADE China, was appointed Editorial Secretary, in which office he has enjoyed the cordial and efficient help of Mr. T. W. Goodall as Assistant Editor. This brief and all too imperfect record of Home affairs must not close without a reference to the Mission Home in London, which as an integral part of the Office has continued to foster that family spirit so characteristic of the Mission from its commencement. Here for nearly fifteen years Miss Williamson, who had previously spent about eight years as Lady Superintendent of the Home in Shanghai, gave herself unsparingly, as an honorary worker, to the exacting duties of a large and busy household, ministering in more loving and generous ways than will ever be known, to the welfare of returned or departing missionaries. Toward the close of 1909, Miss Wilhamson was reluctantly compelled, on the grounds of health, to relinquish her post, which has since been ably filled by Miss Holliday, who for nine years had been Miss Williamson's assistant. Ht - «JI ■■uy ♦_ '3iiiwi teif^— -j/ i^gn'ir jpl F ML . m Ef> .rii9pp|| ^ ^tm LJIM i. ^^1 Hi XXXIV THE CHEFOO SCHOOLS Probably few things have done more in recent years to promote and conserve the family spirit within the Mission than the arrangements made for the education of the missionaries' children. In no personal problem can a mis- sionary be more acutely exercised, for herein he often finds himself, like Abraham of old, called to lay his child or children upon the altar of sacrifice ; yet in no way has the Mission proved more fully the loving-kindness and care of God. We make no apology, therefore, for devoting a short chapter to this subject, for the Schools hold an important place in the Mission's organization, and the teachers in the Schools are all members of the Mission, who have accepted this work as their contribution towards the evangelization of China. Concerning one aspect of the problem involved in the education of missionaries' children, let one who has taught both at Chefoo and in a Missionary School in England give his testimony : I know how serious is the problem of separation. It means a heartrending blow^ and at least two^ often three, broken hearts. I have tried the almost hopeless task of comforting a boy of twelve, whose parents have left him for the first time ; and I have known even a sadder picture, when the parents have come back after seven or eight years, to find their children almost shy to meet them, almost dreading and tremulous at that first inter\dew. I have known the children to often leave their parents at such a moment, and go off to their matron, whom they have learned to know better and to love better than their fathers and mothers. 225 Q 226 THE FOURTH DECADE As has already been related in a previous chapter,^ the CT.M., through working in one country only, has been able to have its Schools upon the field, and thus minimise to a certain extent this problem. The School which started so humbly in 1881 had by 1896 grown until there were over one hundred scholars resident in the three departments — the Boys', the Girls', and the Preparatory ; the Boys' and Girls' Schools having been separated in 1883, and the Pre- paratory School for infants from five to ten years of age being opened in 1895 in premises situated at Tungshin, about three miles to the west of the other Schools. The situation, as we find it about this time, was a great advance upon the earlier days, yet the need for more and better accommodation was being increasingly felt, for the children of the C.I.M. workers then numbered more than two hundred in all, and for every vacancy that was made there were many applicants. The increasing need was laid before God in prayer, and while the friends at Chefoo were wondering whence the money would come for the necessary buildings. Dr. Douthwaite, the missionary -in -charge at Chefoo received a letter from a member of the Mission saying, with special reference to the Boys' School, " The Lord has laid it upon my heart to bear the whole cost of building the School." The work was speedily put in hand, and with Mr. E. J. Cooper as architect, and several experienced missionary helpers, of whom we may mention Messrs. Bailer and Tomalin, the buildings were erected. For this task several hundred men were employed, among whom regular evangel- istic work was carried on, with the gratifying result that fifteen of their number applied for baptism, though only four were finally received. June 15, 1896, was a memorable day, for at four o'clock in the afternoon the Foundation Stone was laid by Dr. Douthwaite. Overhead the Union Jack, the Stars and Stripes and Chinese flags floated in friendly proximity, with the place of honour given to the School colours. The stone laid bore the following inscription : 1 See Chap. XX. p. 133. THE CHEFOO SCHOOLS 227 Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. This Foundation Stone is laid TO commemorate the faithfulness of God IN connection with the CHINA INLAND MISSION SCHOOLS which were founded a.d. 1881 for the education of children of missionaries. The Lord will provide. June 15, 1896. Simultaneously with the erection of the Boys' School, the new Girls' School was being built. The progress of all this building was not so simple as it may appear. Again and again prayer was answered in the supply of funds, for the outbreak of the Japanese war with China had greatly en- hanced the cost of material, and thus exceeded the original estimates. The same troubles had caused a scarcity of workmen, while at one time the opposition of the local gentry became a formidable hindrance. The new Girls' School, with accommodation for eighty boarders, was, however, completed and occupied toward the close of 1897, and the new Boys' School, with accommodation for over one hundred boarders, was ready by the beginning of 1898. In the year 1907, largely through the generosity of another member of the Mission, a two-storied extension of the Girls' School was commenced, which was ready at the reopening of the Schools in 1908, a brass plate being fixed in the Gymnasium : To commemorate the Goodness of God IN giving this enlarged accommodation IN answer to Prayer. The Preparatory School had been transferred from Tungshin in 1899, first to the old Boys' School, and then to 228 THE FOURTH DECADE a large hotel — its present premises — adjoining the other Schools, which came into the market in a providential way. It should also be added that more recently an additional Preparatory School has been opened at Ruling, on the Yangtze, wliere the kind donor of the Boys' School at Chefoo also erected the necessary premises. In these Schools more than a thousand boys and girls have either received or are receiving their education. With- out giving the figures for the Preparatory School, since most of the scholars who enter this proceed to one or other of the Higher Departments later, about six hundred boys have entered the Boys' School since its commencement, in which for more than twenty years Mr. Frank McCarthy has been Headmaster, ably seconded by Mr. Ebe Murray and others. Though the records of the Girls' School, prior to 1891, are not complete, more than four hundred have entered here. Of the eight hundred scholars, approximately, who have gone forth into life, many have done well, while more than thirty have already followed in their parents' footsteps and devoted themselves to missionary service. It is interesting to notice that one of the three who formed the original nucleus of the School in 1881, Dr. F. H. Judd, has been labouring as a medical missionary in connection with the Mission for nearly twenty years. The best testimony to the efficiency of the Schools' educational work is the record of its examinations. For several years the College of Preceptors' Examinations were periodically held at Chefoo, but in 1908 arrangements allowed of the Oxford Local Examinations being held in preference. Since that date 295 scholars — 185 boys and no girls — ^have entered for these Examinations, and of that number all have passed, with the exception of one boy and four girls ; while many have taken honours, and some have received special marks of distinction. Of the spiritual results it is, of course, less easy to write. These cannot be tabulated, but since the fear of the Lord has been, in the estimate of every teacher, the beginning of wisdom, the spiritual welfare of the children has been ever made the matter of supreme importance. That the THE CHEFOO SCHOOLS 229 labours of the teachers have not been in vain in this respect has been proved by many quiet and unsohcited testimonies, while at occasional meetings, arranged by the special request of the scholars themselves, many have pubhcly confessed their faith in Christ. XXXV THE OPENING OF HUNAN It is now time to turn from the recital of events at home and at Chefoo to inland China, and the most striking development of the period under review which demands our attention was connected with the opening up of Hunan. More than twenty years had elapsed since the first C.I.M. pioneers had entered the province, and the story of those early years, up to the time when Adam Dorward settled at Shasi after his eviction from Hungkiang, has already been told.i More than ten years had passed since those events, and of these years we must first speak. When Messrs. Dorward, Dick, and James settled at Shasi, for work across the north-west border, extensive journeys were taken into the province, during which journeys no little hardship was endured, trying both to soul and body, and sometimes imperilling life. One of these journeys, extending over a period of six months, is especially memor- able ; for Mr. Dick, after spending nearly a month in the city of Shenchowfu, passed on and succeeded, in May 1886, in entering Changsha, the capital. This was the first time Changsha had ever been entered by a missionary, and it was considered as no small success ; but Mr. Dick's triumph was unfortunately short-lived, for he was speedily escorted out of the city by the astonished and annoyed officials. During this period of opposition the workers suffered riots both at Tsinshih and Shihshow, Mr. James in the latter place, after having been dragged for more than a mile ^ Continued from Chap. XXIII. p. 152. 230 THE OPENING OF HUNAN 231 towards a pit, only being saved from a violent death by a timely deluge of tropical rain. But the heaviest blow of all came when Adam Dorward their leader died from dysentery on October 2, 1888. " The sad removal of our brother Dorward," wrote Mr. Taylor, " takes away from Hunan one of the truest hearts that ever breathed in sympathy with that people." In one of his latest letters, penned during his last visit to Changteh, Dorward wrote : I feel as if I would be willing to do almost anything that would be honouring to God, to undergo any hardship, if I could get a permanent footing in this city, and have the joy of seeing men and women turning to God. The day of entry into Changteh was not to be till long after Dorward had passed to his reward, but it was to come, and with most encouraging results. After Dorward's death the work in Hunan was continued until, in 1891, the outbreak of the Yangtze riots and the lack of suitable men compelled a temporary retirement. Shihshow and Shasi were, however, retained as out-stations in the hands of trusted Chinese helpers. About the year 1896 the appointment of a new Governor to the province changed the situation. This man, so far as he was able, reversed the tide of anti- foreign feeling, and within a few years rapid strides were made in settled work, prov- ing how much under God depended upon the official attitude. Towards the close of 1895, the Rev. George Hunter, M.A., a Scotch Presbyterian minister, who had joined the Mission in 1889, and had had Hunan laid upon his heart, settled with his wife and younger child at Ichang, as a base for work across the border. From this centre Hunan was visited repeatedly ; and in September 1897, EvangeHst Yao, one of Dorward's faithful helpers, returned from a three months' journey with the deed of rental of a house which he had secured outside the East Gate of Changteh. Here two Chinese helpers were speedily stationed. Meanwhile, Miss Jacobsen, who had been labouring for a number of years in Shansi, in Pastor Hsi's district, had 232 THE FOURTH DECADE felt the call of Hunan, and accompanied by Evangelist Ren, one of Pastor Hsi's helpers, she came south, and in the summer of 1896 settled in a small village in Kiangsi, not far from the Hunan border. The Chinese Evangelist soon entered the province, and rented premises in a village not far from the boundary, but ere long, through the kindness of an official who was helped to break off opium. Miss Jacobsen obtained entry into another village, Shengkwan- shih, five miles farther in. Considerable interest attaches to this opening, for this was the beginning of settled work by foreigners in the province, if Dorward's residence at Hungkiang during 1882-83 be excepted. From this time onward the work in Hunan began gradu- ally to assume a more hopeful aspect, and the year 1897 may be regarded as the year when a permanent entry was secured, the temporary retirement during the crisis of 1900 being common to the work in most provinces. The Christian and Missionary Alliance secured premises in Changteh in November 1897 ; the American Presbyterian Mission in Kwangtung organized a small Church across the Hunan border, — the first regularly organized Christian Church in Hunan, — but without a resident missionary ; the London Missionary Society opened three stations with resident Chinese helpers, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Mission started work in Changteh about the same time. During the following year, 1898, rapid developments took place. Changteh was occupied by Mr. Clinton, who laboured there with conspicuous success and devotion for the next ten years until his early and lamented death, some sixty baptized converts being gathered in during this period. Shenchowfu and Chalingchow were opened the same year, but though the work was thus prospered, much determined opposition was still to be met with, and a firm resolution was needed both in missionary and Chinese helper. What the type of these Chinese helpers was may be gathered from the following reply of one whom Mr. Hunter approached with a view to making an itinerant journey. " If you are just going down to Hunan/' he said, " to look round and come back again, I would rather be excused, but if you mean THE OPENING OF HUNAN 233 business, and if you are going to preach there and are ready to endure hardness, I will go with you. It is the very thing I want." Such a man was Mr. Li who, with Dr. Keller, reached Chalingchow in October 1898. Favoured by the officials, they quietly settled in, though the students freely spoke of killing the landlord and looting the premises. In the spring of 1899 the mob at length took matters into their own hands, and looted both the landlord's and the Mission's premises. By the express order of the Prefect, the District Magistrate ofered compensation to Dr. Keller, but the Doctor replied saying that if he would indemnify the landlord in full, he would give the official a written release from all claims from the foreigner. To this the official willingly agreed, and the compact then made was faithfully fulffiled. This action was blessed of God to the breaking down of much prejudice, and soon a warm friendship sprang up between the Doctor and the official's eldest son. Some months later the Doctor was the means of saving the life of this man's wife, when all the Chinese midwives had retired in despair, and the deep gratitude evoked by this assistance intensified the friendship of the official's son, who subsequently protected Dr. Keller when the Boxer outbreak resulted in widespread riots and disorder throughout the province.^ During the days of trouble which accompanied the Boxer riots several Roman Catholic missionaries in Hunan were killed, but in the good providence of God all Protestant workers in the province were enabled safely to withdraw, rejoicing that though they were temporarily hindered from continuing their work, three stations had been opened in hostile Hunan, and some thirty converts had been gathered out as the nucleus of the future Church. The year 1900, however, brought with it a heav}^ loss to the work in this province, through the somewhat sudden death of Mr. George Hunter, whose gifts and graces had marked him out as one 1 Years afterward this official resigned his post and removed to the capital to have Dr. Keller attend him in his final illness. His grandson, Han En-show, entered the C.I.M. School and while there gave his heart to the Lord. During 191 3 he completed his course of study in Yale College — in China, and then entered a theological seminary to prepare himself to become a preacher of the Gospel. 234 THE FOURTH DECADE from whom service of more than ordinary value had been hoped for. Barely six months had elapsed from the date of Dr. Keller's escape from Chalingchow, ere the Hunan workers were on their way back to the province again. Changsha, the capital, and naturally the key to the province, was still closed, though Mr. B. Alexander of the Christian and Mis- sionary Alliance had, by living on a boat outside the West Gate, and by daily selling Gospels and tracts within the city, done much to prepare the way for the opening of this centre. On June 8, 1901, Dr. Keller, still accompanied by Evangehst Li, reached Changsha, and two days later was successful in renting a pleasant house in a good street inside the walls. These premises were immediately occupied, and on the fourth morning after arrival daily evangelistic services were begun. During the first month the successful treatment of two soldiers, who had been injured by the premature discharge of cannon on the city wall, won the confidence and friendship of the officials and soldiers. Within a month Mr. W. E. Hampson came to join Dr. Keller, gradually other workers followed, and soon a flourishing work sprang up in this formerly anti-foreign centre, the Governor of the province himself subsequently giving a sum of about ;f300 for the purchase of a site for the Mission hospital. At Changteh, barely a month later than Dr. Keller's entry into Changsha, new premises were bought inside the city where, as already stated, the work has been prospered. At Shenchowfu, however, where Messrs. Bruce and Lowis established themselves and were engaged in faithful and steady work, there was an outbreak of cholera in the summer of 1902, and the people in their ignorance being roused to a sudden fury by the report that foreigners had poisoned the famous spring, which was the city's main water supply, murdered those whose only ambition was to be their best friends. In the south of the province, Mr. Kampmann, from Germany, opened the city of Paoking in July 1902 as a centre for other workers coming from Liebenzell. So rapidly did this work under the care of our German brethren THE OPENING OF HUNAN 235 grow, that in 1906 this branch was reorganized under the name of the Liebenzell Mission, associated with the China Inland Mission. From Paoking their work rapidly developed to Yuanchow, then to Siangtan and Changsha, and when in 1910 nearly all the Mission buildings in Changsha were destroyed by riot, it was decided, when the time for rebuilding came that the work in this centre should be handed over entirely to the Liebenzell Mission. The result is that to-day, apart from the two northern stations of Changteh and Nanchowting, all the work connected with the C.I.M. in Hunan is in the hands of the Liebenzell associates. No survey of the work in this province would be complete without a reference to the Bible Conferences and the special campaigns organized by Dr. Keller, in co-operation with members of other Missions, for work among the thousands of pilgrims who every autumn visit the temples and shrines on the sacred mountain of Nanyoh. To take one year as an illustration, we find that during 191 1, 83 men, of whom 2 were pastors, 30 evangelists, 24 colporteurs, 16 student- evangelists, 6 school teachers, and 5 lay workers, representing in all 44 Churches in 10 different Missions, and coming from 33 cities and towns in 22 counties of Hunan, came together for a month in the autumn to spend the morning of each day in united Bible study and the afternoon and even- ing in a special mission to these pilgrim-seekers after truth and blessing. On that occasion nearly 70,000 Scriptures were distributed, the workers frequently rising as early as three o'clock in the morning to catch the travellers on the road. In addition to this autumn work there are two bands of colporteurs, with twelve workers and a leader in each band, regularly engaged throughout the year in a house-to-house visitation, with a view to reaching, so far as is possible, every creature with the good news of salvation through Christ. Already several tens of thousands of homes have been visited where the Gospel had never before been preached. By God's blessing there has been a large number of con- versions, many families have given up their idols, and several new Churches have been formed. It is impossible to-day to look back upon the progress 236 THE FOURTH DECADE of events in Hunan without realising how remarkable have been God's answers to prayer in what has been the stronghold of opposition in China. Hunan was for long a kind of spiritual Edom — the fenced city — entrance into which was constantly sought by strong cryings and tears, and though the conflict has been long and arduous, the labour has not been in vain in the Lord. When Mr. Taylor visited and died in the capital in 1905, although thirty years had passed since the first C.I.M. pioneers had entered the province, settled work had only recently begun ; yet there was a little Church of some fifty members in that city to give him welcome, not to speak of the converts connected with other Societies. And what a welcome that must have been, after the many years of prayer and labour for entry into this, the last province opened to the Gospel ! But to-day, only ten years later, the C.LM. alone can rejoice in the possession of 27 stations and out-stations, and in the fact that about one thousand persons have confessed their faith in Christ by baptism. XXXVI AMONG THE TRIBES i To the west of Hunan lie the two provinces of Kweichow and Yunnan, which no traveller can visit without being struck with the large place the non-Chinese races hold in the population of these regions. It was natural, therefore, that the early pioneers should, from the first, have had their interest awakened for these people, though the pressing claims of the Chinese, and the inaccessibility of the tribes prevented work among them for many years. Yet, although it was not until the Mission had entered upon its fourth decade that definite efforts were made to reach and evangelize these non- Chinese races, Mr. J. F. Broumtom, the first Protestant missionary to settle in Kweichow, baptized the first three converts from among the Miao some time before the year 1884. One of these was P'an Sheo-shan, of whom we shall hear more immediately. In the year 1895, the Rev. Samuel Clarke, who was in charge of the station at Kweiyang, was asked to commence work among the tribes, to learn their languages and reduce the same to writing. P'an Sheo-shan, the Black-Miao convert already mentioned, was engaged as teacher, and by July 1896 a Primer for students of the Black-Miao language had been prepared and a commencement made with a dictionary, in addition to other smaller treatises. During the same month Mr. and Mrs. Webb, who had been located in the province for work among these people, set out for the 1 Free use has been made in this Chapter and Chapter XLII. of the Rev. Samuel R. Clarke's book, Among the Tribes of South-West China. 237 238 THE FOURTH DECADE Black-Miao district east of the capital, which district Mr. Webb had visited before. Accompanied by the Evangelist P'an and a Black-Miao servant, these pioneers travelled from place to place for more than a month, living in wretched inns and houses. At length some premises were rented, but what premises ! — ^half a house in the middle of a Miao village, which half house was merely a lofty barn-like room, all open on one side to the wind. Two months elapsed ere this rude dwelling-place was floored, the open spaces panelled, and windows put in. Some months later the other half of the house was secured and made fit for habitation. Such experiences are, of course, the common lot of pioneers, though none the less easy to bear for all that. But Mr. and Mrs. Webb were grateful for any sort of settlement so long as the work began. There were, however, difficulties greater than those connected with the securing of shelter, for though the Miao seemed either friendly, or at the worst indifferent, the Chinese soon became suspicious and hostile. Serious efforts were soon made to compel the foreigners to retire. The Chinese headman of Panghai, accompanied by a band of local robbers and rufiians to the number of 150, employed every art of intimidation to secure their end. Temporarily, Mrs. Webb was compelled to withdraw, while Mr. Samuel Clarke, with his larger experience, came to support Mr. Webb, with the result that patience, combined with a fearless demeanour, eventually won the day. When this opposition on the part of the Chinese had been overcome, Mr. and Mrs. Webb, by leaving their house open to their neighbours all the day long, soon gained the con- fidence of the somewhat timid Miao. Some elementary medical work also produced astonishing results, and the sick and needy came from places two or three days distant for treatment. During all this time Evangelist P'an had been busy preaching the Gospel to his own people both in Panghai and in the surrounding villages and neighbouring markets. Thus was Panghai opened for work among these much-neglected and despised tribes. Unfortunately, Mrs. Webb soon became prostrate with AMONG THE TRIBES 239 ague and malarial fever, so that she and her husband were compelled to withdraw just as they were becoming ac- quainted with the people and their language. The work was, however, continued by Mr. H. E. Bolton and Evangelist P'an, a school being opened for boys. Unhappily, about this time a dispute arose between the Chinese of Panghai and the Miao as to the site of the local market, and as seven-eighths of the people were Miao, they easily carried the day, to the financial loss of their opponents. The issue was that the Chinese retaliated and burned the Miao booths, and not long afterwards the disaffected Miao seized and looted Panghai, the whole village, which contained some two or three hundred houses, being either purposely or accidentally burnt to the ground. Early in October 1898 Mr. Bolton returned to the capital for a needed change, while Mr. W. S. Fleming undertook to hold the fort at Panghai during his absence. This brought Mr. Fleming right into the district at this time of disaffection, and as the coup d'etat at Peking had but recently taken place, when the Emperor Kwang Hsii, the would-be reformer, was seized and imprisoned by the Empress Dowager, the anti-foreign spirit began more freely to assert itself throughout the country. With Panghai burned, and with a company of soldiers, more threatening than the robbers themselves, quartered in the ruined village, Mr. Fleming's position was peculiarly tr5dng, and he decided to return to Kweiyang. Accompanied by Evangelist P'an and a school teacher of the same name, Mr. Fleming set out for the capital on November 4, 1898. Only fifteen miles had been traversed when the little company was attacked from behind, the attack being pre-arranged. Evangelist P'an, who was in the rear, was first killed, and then Mr. Fleming, who had dismounted from his mule to assist his faithful helper, was done to death with many sword wounds. The coohe and school teacher fled, and managed to escape to carry the sad intelligence to the capital. Thus died the first C.LM. martyr, and P'an Sheo-shan the first of many converts from among the tribes of south-west China. How fruitful the work among these 240 THE FOURTH DECADE tribes was subsequently to be, little did those two martyrs for the Gospel know, though the great ingathering was not to be made in this immediate neighbourhood but farther west, where work among other of the tribes had been com- menced about the same time. Upon receipt of the sad news, Messrs. Windsor and Adam set out for the scene of the tragedy, recovered the bodies, and had them conveyed to Panghai, where they found the murderers and soldiers had looted the Mission premises. In the following February, Mr. Adam bought a piece of land in Panghai where subsequently more suitable buildings were erected, though the failure of Mr. Bolton's health, and the outbreak of the Boxer persecutions in 1900, pre- vented regular work being re-established for some time. During this interval, however, the station was visited from time to time by Messrs. Samuel Clarke and Curtis Waters, though, sad to relate, many of the Miao suffered terrible persecutions, some 32 in all being put to death, many with much cruelty under false charges of rebellion, whereas their real offence was sympathy with the missionary and his religion. In June 1904, Mr. Charles Chenery, who was eminently fitted for the work, settled at this station, and soon won the respect of the converts and neighbouring Chinese alike. But his time of ministry was unfortunately short, for on April 18, 1905, ere he had been there a year, he was accident- ally drowned when travelling from Kaili to Panghai by boat, his body, when recovered, being buried beside those of Mr. Fleming and Evangelist P'an ; these three graves in that lonely country station still silently witnessing to the con- straining love of Christ. Mr. R. Williams, who succeeded Mr. Chenery, only held on for two years, for failure of health compelled his removal to another station, and the work then passed to the care of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Powell. The story of this station, where the first C.I.M. martyrs fell, has been told somewhat fully and out of proportion to the many other centres where the work deserves more attention than space will allow. While, however, it is a necessary part of the record of work among the tribes, it AMONG THE TRIBES 241 also affords a valuable illustration of some of the difficulties incidental to new work, not only among the tribes, but in most parts of China, so that it may be looked upon as reflecting the hardships and discouragements which have had to be encountered in many another centre. For some reason the Black Miao of Panghai have not as readily responded to the Gospel as the other tribes have done. As a people they are especially prone to rebellion, and have in consequence been much harried by the Chinese soldiers, who have destroyed their villages from time to time. Further, they have been intimidated by what the early inquirers suffered, and have probably been deterred by the succession of trials and sorrows which have beset the work. In another chapter ^ it will be our joy to tell the story of blessing which has abounded among the tribes to the west of the province and in the neighbouring province of Yunnan ; and the marked contrast between those centres and this emphasizes the need for prayer that this station, consecrated by the martyrs' blood, instead of being " a valley of weeping " may become " a place of springs." 1 See Chap. XLII. p. 274. XXXVII THE BOXER CRISIS During the closing months of 1897, Mr. Hudson Taylor published a short statement in China s Millions, saying that it had been impressed upon him that God was calling the Mission to prepare for a fresh departure to hasten the evangelization of China. The munificent legacy left by Mr. J. T. Morton about this time, payable in yearly instal- ments over a period of ten or more years, ^ was taken as a confirmation of this proposal. No immediate appeal for workers was made, as it was felt that special preparations at first should be made on the field, the most important preparation of all being a spiritual one. Knowing how much " Winter Missions " in India had been blessed, Mr. Taylor was desirous of some similar efforts being made in China, and to secure this he approached both the Keswick Committee and the Secretaries of other Missionary Societies. There was one fear, however, which much exercised his mind at this time, about which he asked special and definite prayer. " If the Spirit of God worked mightily/' he wrote, " we may be quite sure that the spirit of evil will also be active. When the Appeal for one thousand new workers went forth from the Missionary Con- ference of 1890, the Enemy at once began a counter-move, and riots and massacres have from time to time followed as never before. Pray that God will prevent the breaking up of the Empire, and not allow mission work here to be hindered as it has been in Tahiti, Madagascar, parts of Africa, and elsewhere." 1 From this source the C.I.M. received more than ;{i40,ooo over a period of about fifteen years. 242 THE BOXER CRISIS . 243 That this fear was not imaginary, subsequent events all too terribly proved. Several months after these words had been penned, definite arrangements were made for the commencement of a forward movement in Kiangsi. The province, with certain areas excepted, was divided into five districts, Jaochow being opened by Dr. Fred Judd as a centre for the east, and Mr. Home accepted the leadership of a band of workers, with Kanchow as a centre in the south. But just as the new workers, who had specially offered for this new effort, were becoming qualified for their ministry, the Boxer outbreak disorganized the work so seriously that the scheme was never carried through as originally intended. Several of the workers — Messrs. Ernest Taylor, C. H. Judd, junior, and P. V. Ambler volunteered for the storm-swept province of Shansi, where 113 missionaries with 46 of their children had been massacred. It is of this tragic counter- move of riot and massacre, feared by Mr. Taylor, that we must now speak. The Boxer madness of 1900 was the climax of China's anti-foreign policy, and was not wholly an unnatural issue to a series of events which focussed themselves upon this period of China's history. The perennial antipathy of the Chinese to foreigners had been increasingly aroused by foreign aggression, emphasized by the building of railways, the opening of mines, erection of factories, and other evi- dences of foreign innovation. These things alone had begun seriously to agitate the minds of the people. Added to this was the actual seizure of Chinese territory by Germany at Kiaochow in 1897, by Russia at Port Arthur in 1898, and by England and France at Weihaiwei and Kwang- chow-wan respectively, though the diplomatic term of " lease " was used in each case. Macao, Hongkong, For- mosa, and Korea had been lost before, and with the almost simultaneous alienation of these invaluable harbours to Foreign Powers, there was small wonder that the Chinese people and rulers became exasperated. Nor were these the only causes of offence. In March 1899, France had demanded and obtained official rank for each order of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Bishops 244 THE FOURTH DECADE obtained the rank of Viceroys, Vicar-Generals and Arch- deacons the rank of Provincial Treasurers, and though the Protestant Missions decHned such '* honours," the conces- sions made had seriously offended China's sense of amour propre. Synchronizing with these causes of provocation from without, came reaction against reform within. For years the Emperor had been under the influence of an aggressive Reform Party, headed by K'ang Yii-wei, with the result that edicts of the most revolutionary nature followed one another with bewildering rapidity. The innovations proposed " fairly took away the breath of the whole Empire," and awakened the bitterest hostility of the literati, whose interests were more or less dependent upon a continuance of the old order. When in September 1898 the Emperor degraded and dismissed two Presidents and four Vice-Presidents of one of the time-honoured Boards of Government, and ejected two Ministers from the Chinese Foreign Office, one of whom was the distinguished statesman Li Hung-chang, a climax was reached. The Empress- Dowager, aunt of the Emperor and mother of his prede- cessor and de facto Ruler of China for more than half a century, was memorialized by the offended officials to intervene and save the country. This she was only too ready to attempt, and when H. E. Yuan Shih-kai, the present President, divulged the Emperor's plot to seize the person of the Empress-Dowager, the Emperor was compelled to sign a decree abdicating the Throne and handing over the reins of government to his masterful aunt. Thenceforth followed a series of denunciatory edicts, marked with much bitterness and hate. In one of these, dated November 1899, the Empress-Dowager declared : Our Empire is now labouring under great difficulties, which are becoming daily more serious. The various Powers cast upon us looks of tiger-like ferocity, hustling each other in their endeavours to be the first to seize upon our innermost territory. They think that China, having neither money nor troops, would never venture to go to war with them. They fail to understand, however, that there are certain things to which this Empire can never consent, and that if hardly pressed upon, we have no alternative but to rely upon the justice of our cause. ... It behoves, therefore, all our Viceroys, Governors, and THE BOXER CRISIS 245 Commanders-in-chief throughout the whole Empire^ to unite forces and act together without distinction or particularising of jurisdiction, so as to present a combined front to the enemy;, exhorting and en- couraging their officers and soldiers in person to fight for the preserva- tion of their homes and native soil from the encroaching footsteps of the foreign aggressor. Never should the word Peace fall from the mouths of our high officials, nor should they even allow it to rest for a moment within their breasts. With such a woman at the head of affairs and such edicts sent broadcast throughout the land, the anti-foreign feeling soon ran high ; and when the rains failed and the prospects of famine stared men in the face, it was felt that Heaven was giving proof of displeasure at China's tolerance of the foreigner. Thus were the fiercest passions of the ignorant multitude soon set loose. The patriotic volunteers, or Boxers, a modern form of some older secret organization, rapidly sprang into prominence, with the Empress Dowager as their chief Patroness. Boxer placards appeared through- out the country, promising exemption from misfortune and evils if adherents were gained, and giving the distressed people assurances of fruitful showers when the hated barbarian had been driven from their shores. That any missionaries resident in inland China escaped at all is a fine testimony to the wisdom and humanity of not a few of China's best statesmen who dared to disobey. H. E. Li Hung-chang, aware of the perilous trend of events, vainly memorialized the Empress-Dowager in the hope of turning her from her madness. " I have exhausted every reasonable resource of speech and writing," he recorded in his diary, " but I fear it is unavailing." Upon one of his interviews, when he urged her to crush the Boxers, he records : " In an instant she was alive with wrath and angry words, and I immediately withdrew." Fortunately, other powerful officials adopted the same policy as Li Hung-chang. The Viceroys Chang Chih-tung and Liu Kuen-yi united to preserve peace and order on the Yangtze, and secured the adhesion of other officials, so that they guaranteed protection to merchants, missionaries, and Chinese Christians on the upper and lower reaches of that great river. H. E. Tuan Fang, Governor of Shensi, at the risk of his own life, for the 246 THE FOURTH DECADE Empress-Dowager fled to his capital, stood for peace in the north-west, and was the means of saving the lives of nearly a hundred missionaries. H. E. Yuan Shih-kai, Governor of Shantung, though he had already divulged the Emperor's plot to seize the Empress-Dowager, suppressed the Boxers in his province, and H. E. Yung Lu refused to allow the heavy artillery to be used against the Legations in Peking. The concerted action of such men, in defiance of specific orders to the contrary, was under God the reason why so large a proportion of the missionaries resident in inland China were enabled to escape. While the power of the officials to protect was illustrated by the attitude of those named above, the power of the officials to destroy was sadly proved by the conduct of the bitterly anti-foreign Manchu Governor Yii Hsien, of whom Li Hung-chang wrote : " I well know personally the ignorant and fire-eating Yii, and I would not let him assist in the carrying of my chair." The actual loss of life was limited to the four provinces of Shansi, Chihli, Chekiang and Shantung, yet out of i88 foreigners who were killed — 135 missionaries and 53 of their children — 159 were stationed in the province of Shansi, or across the Mongolian border. How implacable and bitter was China's wrath when led by anti-foreign leaders is shown by these figures, and by the fact that in Peking even the priceless Hanlin Library was fired with the hope of burning down the contiguous Legation buildings. 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