China at Last (1853-1854) (part 2 of 2)

Building in Troublous Times (1854)

It must have seemed almost too good to be true when only two days later Hudson Taylor heard of a house, and before the month was over found himself in possession of premises large enough to accommodate his expected colleagues. Though it was only a native house, built of wood and very ramshackle, it was right among the people, near the North Gate of the Chinese city.

It did not all come about, however, as easily as the statement is made. The house first heard of was not the one finally obtained, nor was the price first demanded one that he could or would give; and between the two lay much weary negotiation that had to be carried on through interpreters and deepened the debt he was already under to other missionaries. And even when the agreement was signed and sealed, much yet remained to be accomplished.

My house has twelve rooms, doors without end, passages innumerable, outhouses everywhere, and all covered with dust, filth, rubbish and refuse. What all the outhouses have been for I cannot imagine. There are no less than thirty- -six of them, none of which I want or shall use. I have been getting a whole batch of doors fastened up, for however well it may suit a Chinese to have six or eight ways into his house, it does not please me at all just now. I See how-to arrange it so that with one pair of gates I can shut off the dwelling itself from all the outhouses.

x But he had had no experience so far of unsupervised workmen. One August day, in spite of overpowering heat, he got a few men to clear the place and remove rubbish. Early next morning he was on the scene again and discovered his men absorbed in watching the bricklayers, never dreaming of setting to work themselves. Having found them plenty to do, he went to enquire about a box expected from Hong Kong. Returning in an hour, what was his surprise to find one man writing, another smoking and the rest asleep. The third time he came it still seemed as though nothing had been done.

‘So I have brought over my desk and a chair,’ he wrote that afternoon, ‘to remain on the premises; and even so they perpetually relapse into idleness. I say, for instance, “Now this must be thoroughly washed.” For a while there is a noise of splashing, but soon all is still. I go to see, and the man looks quite astonished when I remark that only the outside has been cleaned. “Oh,” he replies, “you want within-and-without washing.” “Yes,” I say, “I do,” and return to my letter for a few minutes. Amusing though it may seem at first, this kind of thing becomes wearisome, especially when one can get nothing else.’

It was, however, the least serious part of the new life he was undertaking. The unavoidable outlay weighed on his mind far more.

‘To save the expense of a sedan,’ he wrote to his mother, ‘I have tried staying indoors altogether during the great heat, or walking out only in the evening; but several attacks of illness as well as threatenings of ague have warned me to desist.

‘These things sometimes make me cry with David, “My flesh and my heart faileth”. But that is not his last word; and by grace I too can add, “God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.” Though often cast down, I am where I would be and as I would be—save for more likeness to Christ and more familiarity with the language.’

Still more serious than the question of expense, however, was the danger involved in his intended move. Not only was he leaving the Settlement, to live entirely alone among the Chinese, he was going to a house very near the Imperial camp and within range of the guns of both parties. It was a position, as he well knew, of considerable danger, but no other residence had been procurable and the time had come when something must be done.

I am thankful that my way is hedged up on every side, so that no choice is left me. I am obliged to go forward, and if you hear of my being killed or injured, do not think it a pity that I came, but thank God I was permitted to distribute some Scriptures and tracts and to speak a few words in broken Chinese for Him who died for me.

On August 30th Hudson Taylor bade farewell to the kind host who for six months had afforded him a home, and, near the North Gate of the native city, set up housekeeping. In the solitude that was now his lot, the soul began to revive again and grow as the blessing of the far-away days at Drainside seemed to come back. He lived his own life as then, the simple self-denying life in which brighter spiritual experience seemed possible. * ’

It was now September, almost a year from the time he had left home, and his joy in being able to do something for the people round him was very great. His new teacher was an earnest Christian, and able to conduct morning and evening worship to which all who came were made welcome. After this there were patients to see, visitors to entertain and housekeeping to attend to, in all of which Teacher Si was indispensable. His pupil, too, was rapidly learning useful terms and polite phrases, as well as carefully chosen sentences in which to convey the Gospel. On Sundays they went out together to distribute tracts and preach in the crowded streets. The dispensary was making many friends, and when a day school was added both for boys and girls they had no lack of occupation. Before long, Si had to give all his time to these operations, and another teacher was engaged for the language. And then, with everything in working order and his heart full of the blessing of the Lord, Hudson Taylor began to taste some of the real joys of missionary life.

To this period belongs a letter to his parents which shows the cheerful spirit in which he was working.

North Gate, Shanghai September 20, 1854 My Dear Father and Mother—Whether you weary of my letters or not, I cannot but write them, and I will take it for granted that this one at any rate will be welcome, as it is to inform you that the experiment made in coming to this house has been so far successful, and that now though not doing much J am at any rate doing something... I can assure you I do not spend much time in bed—as I never go till I can keep awake no longer.

The other day I had an interesting excursion to Woosung with Mr. Edkins and a young American missionary named Quaterman. We went by boat arriving there at noon, with a large supply of Scriptures and tracts. These we distributed on many junks going northward, receiving promises from not a few captains and others that they would read them and pass them on to friends in the ports to which they were travelling.

Returning home in the evening well pleased with our excursion, we were puzzled to know how we should pass the Imperial fleet in safety. They are somewhat random with their fire after dark, and might easily have taken us for Chinese, if not Rebel spies. Mr. Edkins came to the rescue, proposing that we should sing as we passed them, that they might know we were foreigners. The suggestion seemed good and the boatmen were pleased with the idea, the only objection being that as we had already been singing a good deal we had exhausted all the hymns and tunes we had in common and were more than ready for a rest.

Having perfected our arrangements, we approached some ships we took to be the fleet, and passed them singing lustily. But just as we were about to congratulate one another on our success, the boatmen shouted to us to recommence, as we had been mistaken in what we supposed to have been the fleet and were just coming within range of their guns.

So we had to tune up again without delay, and sang ‘The spacious firmament on high,’ to that beautiful tune Creation. Unfortunately we concluded just opposite the largest ship of the fleet. It was now quite dusk.

“What next?’ cried Mr. Edkins, as the alarm-gong struck on board the ship. ‘There is not a moment to lose.’

He then commenced singing I know not what. Quarterman struck up a truly American tune to ‘Blow ye the trumpet, blow!’ while I at the same moment raised a third with all the voice I could command. The men_on the warship were shouting loudly, our boat’s crew outdoing them if possible, and the whole thing was so ludicrous that I could control myself no longer and burst into a fit of laughter most inappropriate to the occasion.

‘Who goes there?’ was shouted from the Imperial ship. ‘Peh-kuei’ (white devils), yelled our men, while we cried simultaneously, “7a Ing-kueh’ (Great English Nation) and ‘Huachu-kueh,’ which means Flowery Flag Country, or America.

After a little further explanation we were allowed to pass, upon which my companions began to lecture the boatmen for having called us ‘white devils.’ The poor men who had not yet received their day’s pay were very penitent, and explained that they had been so frightened that they really did not know what they were saying and would be most careful to refrain from such expressions in future.

My eyes, the lamp and paper alike inform me that I must be drawing to a close. But I must not forget to tell you that the other day a Sungkiang man presented me with a couple of valuable crickets in a glass box. They require two freshly boiled grains of rice daily, and are kept on account of their song, which is quite different from the sound made by English crickets, and very pleasant.

And now Goodnight, or rather Goodmorning. — Ever my dear parents, your affectionate son,

J. HUDSON TAYLOR

Mingled with joy in his new work, however, came difficulties, great and small—problems of household management, quarrels between his servants and the neighbours, anxiety about his cook who was laid up with typhus fever, disappointment with the second teacher who had to be dismissed, great discouragement about the language, and repeated attacks of illness that left him low-spirited and unfit to bear the strain of constant skirmishing so close at hand.

“There has been a great deal of fighting for several days,’ he wrote in the middle of September, ‘and the Rebels have been gathering at the bottom of this street. Several cannon balls have passed near these premises. It is easy to tell whether a gun is loaded or not, as the ball makes a whizz which once heard is not likely to be forgotten.’

Beside all this, he was increasingly burdened about money matters. Obliged to exceed his salary for the necessities of life, he had made use of a Letter of Credit provided against emergencies, but was still uncertain as to how far his bills would be honoured. This cost him many a wakeful night as well as many a prayer.

Thus September ended, and looking back upon it he could say:

Though in some ways I never passed a more anxious month in my life, I have never felt so conscious of God’s presence with me. I begin to enjoy the sweet, peaceful rest in the Lord and in His promises experienced first in Hull. That was the brightest part of my spiritual life, and how poor at the best! Since then I have been in a declining state, but the Lord has brought me back; and as there is no standing still in these things, I trust to go on to apprehend heights and depths, lengths and breadths of love divine far exceeding anything I have yet entered into. May God grant it, for Jesus’ sake.

One cannot but be impressed in reading the letters of this period with the sacred ambition of Hudson Taylor’s prayers; a subject worth pondering, if it is true that prayer, not circumstances, moulds the life, and that as are our deepest desires before God so will the trend of our outward experiences be. Certainly nothing is more significant in the life before us than the longing for usefulness and likeness to the Lord he loved. Not honour or success, but usefulness, ‘widespread usefulness’ was his constant prayer.

His prayers were indeed to be answered beyond anything he asked or thought; but he must pray with yet fuller meaning, and go through with all the training needed at the Master’s hands. The iron must be tempered to steel, and his heart made stronger and more tender than others, thtough having loved and suffered more, with God. He was pioneering a way in China, little as he or anyone else could imagine it, for hundreds who were to follow. Every burden must be his, every trial known as only experience can teach it. He, who was to be used of God to dry so many tears, must himself weep. He, who was to encourage thousands in a life of childlike trust, must learn in his own case deep lessons of a Father’s loving care. So difficulties were permitted to gather about him, especially at first when every impression was vivid and lasting, difficulties attended by many a deliverance to encourage him.

As much of his usefulness later on was to consist in helping and providing for young missionaries, it is not to be wondered at that a large part of his preparation at this time had to do with financial matters and the unintentional mismanagement of the home Committee. He had to learn how to do and how not to do for those who on the human side would be dependent on him; a lesson of vital importance; lying at the very foundation of his future work. Hence all this trial about a small, settled income and large uncertain needs; about irregularity of mails and long-unanswered letters; about rapidly changing opportunities of service on the field, and the slow-moving ideas and inaccessibility of Committees at home. He did his best, and the inexperienced Secretaries in London did their best also. But something, somehow, was wanting; and just what it was Hudson Taylor had to discover, and later on to remedy. The iron was entering into his very soul; but from this long endurance was to spring heart’s ease for many another.

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North Gate, Shanghai; October 17th, 1854 My Dear Parents—You ‘wish to know all about my pecuniary as well as other affairs, so I am enclosing a copy of a

list of expenses I am just forwarding to Mr. Pearse. As you will perceive, they so largely exceed the sum we were led to suppose would be sufficient (£80 per annum) that I am sending full details, so that the Secretaries can see for themselves. I shall have to draw again this year, probably next month. I am not sure that I can get credit, for my authorisation from the Society does not exceed £40 a quarter, and if the agents here knew, that I had Just received a copy of the Committee’s Resolution stating that they will not accept bills for more than that amount, of course it would be refused.

You will not wonder that anxiety about expenses and as to whether my bills will be honoured or not, added to the dangers of my present position, has proved rather much for me lately. I have been very poorly for a fortnight.

Everything is dear in Shanghai now, Chinese as well as foreign goods. Just to think that in seven months I have spent more than £100! Is it not frightful? £200 per annum will barely cover my expenses, unless the exchange falls, and other things too. The Church Missionary Society allows single men $700 (about £210 at the present rate of exchange) beside paying rent, medical expenses, and a sum sufficient for Chinese teacher and books.

Saturday, October 21st. It is very cold today. I am better than I was earlier in the week, but still far from well. Fortunately I have been able to buy a second-hand stove for ten dollars that will burn wood. A new one would have cost thirty. And now having had another month’s expenses to settle, I have only twelve dollars left. What can I do? I must draw soon. And even if I can get a bill accepted here, I am in terror of its being refused by the Committee, which would put me in a pretty fix. I think and study night and day, and cannot tell what to do.

Last Wednesday night, a fire that seemed very near awoke me at three o’clock in the morning. Dressing hastily, I climbed on to the roof to ascertain if it were coming this way. Chinese houses like these, built only of wood, burn very quickly on a windy night. It was an.anxious moment, for in the darkness I fancied the burning building was only four or five doors away. Just then, as I was praying earnestly for protection, it began to rain. The wind fell, for which I was most thankful, and gradually the fire smouldered down.

I have never passed, as you will well believe, such a trying time in my life. But it is all necessary, and I feel is being made a blessing to me. I may have to leave here suddenly. But whatever happens, I do not regret coming to this house, and would do it again under similar circumstances. Our Society must provide better, however, for its missionaries. This sort of thing will not do.

I must now conclude, trusting that the Lord, who is precious to me in my extremity, is proving Himself near also to you. —With love. Believe me, your ever affectionate son,

J. HUDSON TAYLOR

That Resolution of the Committee not to honour bills exceeding £40 a quarter hurt like a wound inflicted by one from whom he had expected sympathy. In a letter to Mr. Pearse of November 2nd, he expressed himself as follows:

And lastly, in reference to the Resolution of June 29th, 1854: your Board ought to be very careful how they bind their Secretaries to such a course in present times. Your missionaries are sent into a country in a state of revolution, where it is literally true that they know not what a day or an hour may bring forth. They should be well provided against contingencies before you adopt such an ultra measure, a measure that would at once and for ever destroy their credit, if they have any, and compared with which their dismissal by the Society would not be severe.

At any rate, if not accepted, such bills should not be positively refused before you hear the reasons which led to their being drawn. But more I need not say. Your hearts are in the work as well as mine, and I know you will excuse these remarks when you remember that half the world lies between us.

Crisp, sharp autumn weather had now set in, forecasting the bitter cold of winter. His Chinese house was not only unwarmed but unwarmable, draughts sweeping through it mercilessly, from unnumbered cracks and crevices. His blankets, only two in number, were fit for nothing but summer use, and all the clothing he had brought from home was now so shabby that he was ashamed to be seen amongst other foreigners. Yet he had far exceeded his allowance, and dared not spend a penny save for actual necessities. And to add to his perplexity he was driven to see that the house he had secured with so much difficulty in view of the arrival of the Parkers would not be a place they could come to even for a night.

Three weeks later he wrote again to the Secretaries:

There is a great deal of firing going on here now, so much so that I am seldom able to get halfa night’s sleep. What Dr. Parker and his family are to do, I do not know. Their coming here as things are now is out of the question. This constant anxiety for them as well as myself, together with another still more trying (the expense I am unable to avoid) is by no means a desirable addition to the difficulties

of language and climate.

We have heard nothing of the Swiftsure, but she is hardly due as yet. I shall be thankful when Dr. Parker is here and we are able to consult together about the future.

Pray for me, for I am almost pressed beyond measure, and were it not that I find the Word of God increasingly precious and feel His presence with me, I do not know what I should do.

But the Lord knew, and He had not forgotten His tried servant. At that very moment, when the Swiftsure was nearing the end of her long and perilous voyage, the Lord had a home in view into which to receive the Parkers and their children. He was not shut up to the house on the North Gate Street, though Hudson Taylor was, and just in time, when lessons had been learned that He saw to be needed, the way was opened to a safer residence.

On the compound of the London Missionary Society, through the coming of a great sorrow, a little house stood empty that in comparison with Hudson Taylor’s quarters offered a haven of security and peace. Shadowed as it was with the suffering of his dearest friends in China, the Burdons, he had not thought of it as other than their home.

There he had found them in their early married life, rejoiced with them in the gift of a precious child, and shared the bereavement that only a few months later left the little girl motherless. Then he had helped Burdon to move with his infant daughter to the care of the Chaplain’s household. The little house at Ma-ka-k’tien stood empty, and just as the situation of the native city was becoming desperate, word was sent to Hudson Taylor that if he wanted Burdon’s house he could take it at once. Paying the rent out of his own meagre resources, he secured a home for the family so soon to arrive in the Settlement.

Then he was urged to sublet half the premises to another missionary in distress who, not knowing where to take his wife and children for safety, was thankful to pay half the rent. True, the house was very small for two families, but it was a relief to have his financial obligations lessened and a comfort to be able to help somebody else. So with many regrets at parting from his school-children and neighbours, Hudson Taylor left the scenes in which he had commenced his first direct missionary work, and on Saturday, November 25th, returned to a house shared with others on the familiar compound of the London Missionary Society.

Two days later he was again at the North Gate to remove the last of his belongings, when he was recalled by a message from Dr. Lockhart. Hurrying back with many conjectures as to what the summons might mean, he found the doctor at lunch with a pleasant-looking stranger—none other than his own long-expected colleague, Dr. Parker. So they had come at last! And he was only just in time with arrangements for their accommodation.

At first in the joy of meeting and all the excitement of bringing up their belongings from the ship, Hudson Taylor had hardly time to realise how the narrowness of their quarters would strike his new-found friends. But when they were all in them, including the baby whose first appearance had been made at sea, the three rooms seemed even more crowded than he had feared they would be. Strong, sensible Scots people, the Parkers were quite prepared to put up with hardships, and accommodated themselves to the situation as well as could be expected. But to Hudson Taylor it was a painful experience to have to reveal the pitifulness of his preparations.

If the rooms had been suitably furnished it would have been another matter; but his Chinese bed, two or three square tables, and half a dozen chairs seem to have been all that he possessed. He had only just moved in on Saturday night, and had not had time to get into working order, and now the sudden advent of a family with all their paraphernalia made confusion worse confounded, and the despair of a thrifty housewife with three little children to provide for may be better imagined than described.

Oh, the trying, difficult days that followed, could they ever be forgotten! For to make matters worse, the Shanghai community began to call upon the new arrivals, and those with whom Hudson Taylor was acquainted were not sparing in their comments upon what seemed his negligence.

It was all very well for him to live in Chinese style if he liked, and put up with a hundred and one discomforts. But people who knew what was what could not be expected to fall in with such ways. Why had he not furnished their rooms properly, and provided warm carpets and curtains? Did he not know that children must be protected from the bitter cold of winter? Had he no stoves in readiness, no proper supply of fuel? Had he not written to tell them that they would need warm clothes and bedding on their arrival in November? And as to unpacking and getting settled, how could it be done without shelves or cupboards, chests of drawers or book-cases in which to stow their belongings?

All of which was true, no doubt, and unanswerable; for how could the young missionary let it be known that he had gone far beyond the limits of authorised expenditure in taking the house at all; that he had done it entirely on his own responsibility, and that after paying the first instalment of rent he had been left with only two or three dollars in hand, not enough to cover a week’s expenses?

His hope was, of course, that Dr. Parker would be supplied with all that was necessary, and would be the bearer of instructions from the Society about Mission headquarters in Shanghai or elsewhere, as well as some more satisfactory arrangement for financial transactions in the future. The very reverse, however, was the case. Dr. Parker had nothing with him but a few dollars for immediate use. He was expecting a Letter of Credit to be awaiting him in Shanghai, understood to have been sent off before he left England. As to supplies, they had abundance of clothing for the tropics, but had not been at all prepared for cold weather, so that the children were in immediate need of winter outfits. And for the rest, nothing had been said about how they were to live and work in Shanghai, or in what way their salary was to reach them. All this they seem to have taken for granted that Hudson Taylor would be able to arrange.

No special anxiety was felt as yet, however. A large mail was waiting their arrival, and among the letters would doubtless be one containing the document on which so much depended. The Secretaries had assured Dr. Parker while he was still in London that his Letter of Credit, if not already on its way to Shanghai, would be there long before his own arrival. But on going through his mail he found no trace of it. The Letter of Credit had evidently been overlooked and forgotten.

Another mail was due within a day or two, however, and that no doubt would put matters right. In the meanwhile, they were thankful for the little preparation Hudson Taylor had been able to make, and with his few dollars and their own laid in a small supply of what was indispensable.

The mail came in. Yes, there were letters from the Secretaries dated September 15th, more than three months after the Parkers had left London. There seemed to be no enclosures; but perhaps they had sent the Letter of Credit direct to their Shanghai agents, and would mention having done so. No, nothing was said about it. There was positively no allusion tothe matter. What could be the meaning of such an omission? To Dr. Parker it seemed inexplicable. But Hudson Taylor, with more experience of the working of things, was not altogether surprised, and found it less easy to be hopeful, though he acceded to the only suggestion that could be made, that they should go at once to the agents and enquire. Dr. Parker was satisfied that this must bring a conclusion to their difficulties, so with a light heart as far as he was concerned they presented themselves at the office of Messrs. Gibb, Livingston and Co.

Hudson Taylor had had dealings before with the manager of this firm, and though he had found him a friend in need on more than one occasion, it was not possible to forget the sarcasm of some of his remarks, nor the emphasis with which he said, ‘The management or rather mismanagement of your Society is very bad.’ It was with some trepidation, therefore, he introduced Dr. Parker and asked if any advice had been received as to his Letter of Credit.

‘No,’ answered the manager promptly, ‘none.’ ‘Is it possible,’ queried Dr. Parker ‘that you have heard nothing from the Society as to the amount I am entitled to draw?’

‘It is more than possible,’ replied the manager, ‘to judge by past experiences’; though when he saw how this information was received, he was inclined to be more sympathetic.

Humiliating as the position was in itself, it was rendered still more so by the necessity they were under of explaining matters to this comparative stranger, with his prompt, efficient, business-like ways, upon whom for the time being they were dependent. If he had not seen fit to advance them money upon such evidence of their genuineness as they could afford, they would have been reduced to sore straits indeed. But his friendliness, both then and after, was the Lord’s way of answering their prayers, and providing for them in the absence of the Letter of Credit that for long months did not make its appearance.

Dr. Parker said little about all this, but he must have felt it keenly, and probably all the more so as he came to realise the tempting possibilities opened to him as a medical man in China. How easily he could have supported his family in comfort, had he been willing to turn aside from missionary work! But in spite of poverty and many privations, prolonged all through the winter, spring, and the following summer, he and his wife held on their way with quiet self-sacrifice that never wavered.

From the first Sunday after landing, he went out regularly with Hudson Taylor to evangelise in the city or surrounding villages, and frequently made longer excursions, giving away tracts and attending to simple ailments, while others more familiar with the language did the talking. And at home in their crowded quarters he devoted himself assiduously to study, although the only place to do it was in Hudson Taylor’s room next to the nursery.

‘No one who has not experienced it,’ Hudson Taylor wrote, ‘can understand the effect of such incessant strain on mind and body. It makes one so nervous and irritable that we sorely need your prayers as well as our own to enable us at all times to manifest a proper spirit.

‘How gracious of God thus to keep us from being deluded into supposing that we are free from the evils that belong to fallen nature, and. to make us long the more earnestly for the time when we shall see our blessed Master and be perfected in His likeness. Thank the Lord, there does remain a

rest for us. I am so apt to grow weary and selfishly wish I were there, instead of desiring only to do His will and wait His time; to follow the footsteps of Jesus and finish all that He will give me to do. Indeed, the work of grace seems only just begun in my heart. I have been an unfruitful branch, and need no small amount of pruning. May these present trials result only in blessing, preparing me for more extensive usefulness here and a crown of rejoicing hereafter.’

‘The continued strain to which I have been subjected of late,’ he wrote in another letter, ‘has caused a degree of nervous irritability never before experienced, requiring the greatest watchfulness to prevent the manifestation of an unsuitable spirit before those by whom I am surrounded. What a solemn thing it is to be a witness for God, sent into the midst of heathen darkness to show forth in our lives all that by our words we teach. Pray for me that I may have more grace, humility and reliance on the power of God, that I may prove henceforth more efficient, by His blessing, in this holy service.’

Somewhat different in tone was the first letter addressed to Mr. Pearse after the arrival of Dr. Parker and his family. In addition to their own difficulties about which he had to write, Hudson Taylor was suffering from imprudent statements in The Gleaner calculated to give serious offence to the L.M.S. missionaries in Shanghai; “men who,’ as he put it, “however much you may differ from them in judgment, are more thoughtful for the shelter and support of your missionaries than the Society that sends them out, if not more wishful.’

I trust you will not deem it unkind or disrespectful of me to write thus. For though I feel these things and feel them keenly,

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were it not for the sake of others and the good of the Society I would pass over them in silence. To do this, however, would be unfaithfulness on my part. For not only is it morally wrong and thoughtless in the extreme to act as the Society has acted towards Dr. Parker, but you must surely see that men who can quadruple their salary by professional practice, or double it by taking a clerk’s berth will not be likely, if they find themselves totally un-provided for, to continue in the service of the Society. I do not make these remarks with respect to Dr. Parker, who seems thoroughly devoted to the work and by his spirit has encouraged me not a

little. But they are true none the less. And I may add that a vacant post at £200 a year, the whole duties of which would not occupy two hours in the evening, did look inviting to me at a time when I had been obliged to incur a responsibility of £120 for rent, and a Resolution upon my last letter to the Committee informed me that missionaries drawing more than was authorised would not have their bills honoured by the Society.

Dr. Parker arrived on Monday, a week ago today, calling forth true gratitude to God for deliverance from the many dangers that had beset their path. Of course he found our half of the house nearly empty, as my few things did not go far in furnishing. The missionaries, when they discovered this lack of preparation, blamed me very much. Could | tell them that having paid nearly £20 for rent I had only three dollars left, a sum not sufficient to purchase provisions for a week at the present high rate of prices?

Fortunately Dr. Parker had a few dollars, for which, however, we had to give twenty to thirty per cent discount to get them into cash. He was not a little surprised to find that Mr. Bird’s communication contained no Letter of Credit nor allusion to one. And when I learned that he had none with him, I was no less astonished. And while we both cherish, the warmest and most affectionate regard for many membérs of the Committee personally, and especially for its Secretaries, we cannot but feel that the Society has acted disgracefully.

Difficulties notwithstanding, they tackled their work bravely, and between long, busy Sundays among the people, settled down as well as they could to study. It was almost impossible to concentrate attention upon the language at this time, for the condition of the people around them was heart-rending. Hundreds were dying of cold and starvation, and there seemed no hope of relief until one side or other could win a decisive victory.

For still the Rebels would not yield, although the French in violation of their promised neutrality were taking sides more and more against them. A French frigate and steamer stationed opposite the native city deliberately cut off supplies that might have come to it by water, while on land the same end was served by a massive wall built and guarded by French forces. All this, it was becoming evident, was part of a Jesuit policy bent on supporting the reigning dynasty. For the Taipings and other insurgents were confessedly hostile, not only to idolatry in all its forms, but to Roman priestcraft and image worship, and to the growing habit of opium smoking. If success crowned their long and desperate struggle, Romanism as well as opium and idolatry were bound .to fall before them, and this was known at the Vatican as well as at the Court of St. James. First the French therefore and later on the English lent efficient aid to the Imperial cause, and the activity of the former in Shanghai at this time was the beginning of the foreign interference which ultimately led to the suppression of the Taiping movement.

Ever since the arrival of Dr. Parker, this open interference on the part of the French had been rousing the hatred of the Rebel soldiery. Their attitude was becoming menacing, and the Chinese who favoured their cause, both in and around the Settlement, were plotting revenge upon the whole European community. This made evangelistic work both difficult and dangerous, and might not unreasonably have formed an excuse for lessened’activity for the time being. But as far as the missionaries on the L.M.S. compound were concerned it had no such effect. Dr. Medhurst and his colleagues still planned and carried out their excursions to the interior, as well as constant evangelisation in the neighbourhood of Shanghai; and Dr. Parker made many visits in company with Hudson Taylor to towns and villages within a radius of ten or fifteen miles. Down the Hwangpu River they went, and up the creeks and canals where shipping congregated, everywhere searching out serious and intelligent persons with whom to leave Scriptures and tracts. In this way in the month of December alone they distributed many hundreds of New Testaments and Gospels, together with a still larger number of tracts explaining the way of life.

“These have been given with all possible care,’ wrote Hudson Taylor to the Committee, ‘and in most cases to men who we knew were able to read. A considerable number were taken on junks travelling to the northern provinces.’

But before the year closed an opportunity came for more aggressive efforts. An invitation came to him from Edkins to accompany him on a journey to Kashing-fu, a notable centre of wealth and industry inland. On Saturday, December 16th, 1854, therefore, Hudson Taylor set out on his first inland evangelistic journey. x