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[Illustration: Signature: J. Hudson Taylor.]
A RETROSPECT
BY
J. HUDSON TAYLOR, M.R.C.S., F.R.G.S.
_Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee._
THIRD EDITION
TORONTO
CHINA INLAND MISSION
507 CHURCH STREET
[Illustration: THE "LAMMERMUIR" PARTY. _See page 125._]
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. THE POWER OF PRAYER 1
II. THE CALL TO SERVICE 7
III. PREPARATION FOR SERVICE 13
IV. FURTHER ANSWERS TO PRAYER 19
V. LIFE IN LONDON 24
VI. STRENGTHENED BY FAITH 30
VII. MIGHTY TO SAVE 35
VIII. VOYAGE TO CHINA 39
IX. EARLY MISSIONARY EXPERIENCES 45
X. FIRST EVANGELISTIC EFFORTS 49
XI. WITH THE REV. W. C. BURNS 57
XII. THE CALL TO SWATOW 70
"The Missionary Call": Words and Music 75
XIII. MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES 77
XIV. PROVIDENTIAL GUIDANCE 92
XV. SETTLEMENT IN NINGPO 98
XVI. TIMELY SUPPLIES 105
XVII. GOD A REFUGE FOR US 110
XVIII. A NEW AGENCY NEEDED 116
XIX. FORMATION OF THE C. I. M. 121
XX. THE MISSION IN 1894 126
THE MISSION IN 1902 128
STATIONS OF THE C. I. M. 131
* * * * *
MAP OF CHINA
SHOWING THE STATIONS OF THE CHINA INLAND MISSION:
CORRECTED TO JUNE 1900 _To face page_ 131
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Portrait of J. Hudson Taylor _Frontispiece_
2. The "Lammermuir" party _Facing "Contents"_
PAGE
3. Honorary banner presented to a missionary 1
4. A heavy road in North China 7
5. Salt junk on the Yang-tsi 13
6. Travelling by mule cart on "the great plain" 19
7. Ch'ung-k'ing, the Yang-tsi, and mountains beyond 24
8. Water gate and Custom house, Soo-chow 29
9. View on the Kwang-sin River 30
10. Temple and memorial portal 34
11. "Compassionate heart, benevolent methods" 35
12. Outside the wall of Gan-k'ing 38
13. The new girls school at Chefoo 39
14. Entrance to the Po-yang lake 44
15. A fair wind, at sunset, on the lake 45
16. A view on the grand canal 49
17. Down the Yang-tsi on a cargo boat 57
18. East gate and sentry box, Bhamô, Burmah 69
19. Farmhouse, with buffalo shed attached 70
20. A fishing village on the lake near Yünnan Fu 77
21. Teng-yueh, the westernmost walled city in China 91
22. A small temple near Wun-chau 92
23. Group of Christians at Lan-k'i, Cheh-kiang 97
24. A boat on the Red River, Tonquin 98
25. Students' quarters, Gan-k'ing Training Home 104
26. A Mandarin's sedan chair 105
27. A presentation banner (a mark of high respect) 110
28. View on the Po-yang lake 116
29. A village on the grand canal 121
30. The battlements of Pekin 126
31. Native woodcut of a landscape 131
32. Elder Liu and wife, Kwei-k'i 136
The hearty thanks of the Mission for the use of
photographs and sketches are hereby tendered to
Rev. George Hayes for Nos. 4 and 6; Dr. G.
Whitfield Guinness for Nos. 8, 12, 16, 25, and 28;
Miss Davies for No. 23; Mr. Thomas Selkirk for
Nos. 18 and 21; Mr. J. T. Reid for Nos. 14, 15,
and 27; Mr. J. S. Rough for No. 30; Mr. Grainger
for No. 19; Mr. E. Murray for No. 13, and also to
other friends unknown by name.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
THE POWER OF PRAYER
THE following account of some of the experiences which eventually led to
the formation of the CHINA INLAND MISSION, and to its taking the form in
which it has been developed, first appeared in the pages of _China's
Millions_. Many of those who read it there asked that it might appear in
separate form. Miss Guinness incorporated it in the _Story of the China
Inland Mission_, a record which contained the account of GOD'S goodness
to the beginning of 1894. But friends still asking for it in pamphlet
form, for wider distribution, this edition is brought out.
Much of the material was taken from notes of addresses given in China
during a conference of our missionaries; this will account for the
direct and narrative form of the papers, which it has not been thought
necessary to change.
It is always helpful to us to fix our attention on the GOD-ward aspect
of Christian work; to realise that the work of GOD does not mean so much
man's work for GOD, as GOD'S own work through man. Furthermore, in our
privileged position of fellow-workers with Him, while fully recognising
all the benefits and blessings to be bestowed on a sin-stricken world
through the proclamation of the Gospel and spread of the Truth, we
should never lose sight of the higher aspect of our work--that of
obedience to GOD, of bringing glory to His Name, of gladdening the
heart of our GOD and FATHER by living and serving as His beloved
children.
Many circumstances connected with my own early life and service
presented this aspect of work vividly to me; and as I think of some of
them, I am reminded of how much the cause of missions is indebted to
many who are never themselves permitted to see the mission field--many,
it may be, who are unable to give largely of their substance, and who
will be not a little surprised in the Great Day to see how much the work
has been advanced by their love, their sympathy, and their prayers.
For myself, and for the work that I have been permitted to do for GOD, I
owe an unspeakable debt of gratitude to my beloved and honoured parents,
who have passed away and entered into rest, but the influence of whose
lives will never pass away.
Many years ago, probably about 1830, the heart of my dear father, then
himself an earnest and successful evangelist at home, was deeply stirred
as to the spiritual state of China by reading several books, and
especially an account of the travels of Captain Basil Hall. His
circumstances were such as to preclude the hope of his ever going to
China for personal service, but he was led to pray that if GOD should
give him a son, he might be called and privileged to labour in the vast
needy empire which was then apparently so sealed against the truth. I
was not aware of this desire or prayer myself until my return to
England, more than seven years after I had sailed for China; but it was
very interesting then to know how prayer offered before my birth had
been answered in this matter.
All thought of my becoming a missionary was abandoned for many years by
my dear parents on account of the feebleness of my health. When the
time came, however, GOD gave increased health, and my life has been
spared, and strength has been given for not a little toilsome service
both in the mission field and at home, while many stronger men and women
have succumbed.
I had many opportunities in early years of learning the value of prayer
and of the Word of GOD; for it was the delight of my dear parents to
point out that if there were any such Being as GOD, to trust Him, to
obey Him, and to be fully given up to His service, must of necessity be
the best and wisest course both for myself and others. But in spite of
these helpful examples and precepts my heart was unchanged. Often I had
tried to make myself a Christian; and failing of course in such efforts,
I began at last to think that for some reason or other I could not be
saved, and that the best I could do was to take my fill of this world,
as there was no hope for me beyond the grave.
While in this state of mind I came in contact with persons holding
sceptical and infidel views, and accepted their teaching, only too
thankful for some hope of escape from the doom which, if my parents were
right and the Bible true, awaited the impenitent. It may seem strange to
say it, but I have often felt thankful for the experience of this time
of scepticism. The inconsistencies of Christian people, who while
professing to believe their Bibles were yet content to live just as they
would if there were no such book, had been one of the strongest
arguments of my sceptical companions; and I frequently felt at that
time, and said, that if I pretended to believe the Bible I would at any
rate attempt to live by it, putting it fairly to the test, and if it
failed to prove true and reliable, would throw it overboard altogether.
These views I retained when the LORD was pleased to bring me to
Himself; and I think I may say that since then I _have_ put GOD'S Word
to the test. Certainly it has never failed me. I have never had reason
to regret the confidence I have placed in its promises, or to deplore
following the guidance I have found in its directions.
Let me tell you how GOD answered the prayers of my dear mother and of my
beloved sister, now Mrs. Broomhall, for my conversion. On a day which I
shall never forget, when I was about fifteen years of age, my dear
mother being absent from home, I had a holiday, and in the afternoon
looked through my father's library to find some book with which to while
away the unoccupied hours. Nothing attracting me, I turned over a little
basket of pamphlets, and selected from amongst them a Gospel tract which
looked interesting, saying to myself, "There will be a story at the
commencement, and a sermon or moral at the close: I will take the former
and leave the latter for those who like it."
I sat down to read the little book in an utterly unconcerned state of
mind, believing indeed at the time that if there were any salvation it
was not for me, and with a distinct intention to put away the tract as
soon as it should seem prosy. I may say that it was not uncommon in
those days to call conversion "becoming serious"; and judging by the
faces of some of its professors, it appeared to be a very serious matter
indeed. Would it not be well if the people of GOD had always tell-tale
faces, evincing the blessings and gladness of salvation so clearly that
unconverted people might have to call conversion "becoming joyful"
instead of "becoming serious"?
Little did I know at the time what was going on in the heart of my dear
mother, seventy or eighty miles away. She rose from the dinner-table
that afternoon with an intense yearning for the conversion of her boy,
and feeling that--absent from home, and having more leisure than she
could otherwise secure--a special opportunity was afforded her of
pleading with GOD on my behalf. She went to her room and turned the key
in the door, resolved not to leave that spot until her prayers were
answered. Hour after hour did that dear mother plead for me, until at
length she could pray no longer, but was constrained to praise GOD for
that which His SPIRIT taught her had already been accomplished--the
conversion of her only son.
I in the meantime had been led in the way I have mentioned to take up
this little tract, and while reading it was struck with the sentence,
"The finished work of CHRIST." The thought passed through my mind, "Why
does the author use this expression? why not say the atoning or
propitiatory work of CHRIST?" Immediately the words "It is finished"
suggested themselves to my mind. What was finished? And I at once
replied, "A full and perfect atonement and satisfaction for sin: the
debt was paid by the Substitute; CHRIST died for our sins, and not for
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Then came the
thought, "If the whole work was finished and the whole debt paid, what
is there left for me to do?" And with this dawned the joyful conviction,
as light was flashed into my soul by the HOLY SPIRIT, that there was
nothing in the world to be done but to fall down on one's knees, and
accepting this SAVIOUR and His salvation, to praise Him for evermore.
Thus while my dear mother was praising GOD on her knees in her chamber,
I was praising Him in the old warehouse to which I had gone alone to
read at my leisure this little book.
Several days elapsed ere I ventured to make my beloved sister the
confidante of my joy, and then only after she had promised not to tell
any one of my soul secret. When our dear mother came home a fortnight
later, I was the first to meet her at the door, and to tell her I had
such glad news to give. I can almost feel that dear mother's arms around
my neck, as she pressed me to her bosom and said, "I know, my boy; I
have been rejoicing for a fortnight in the glad tidings you have to tell
me." "Why," I asked in surprise, "has Amelia broken her promise? She
said she would tell no one." My dear mother assured me that it was not
from any human source that she had learned the tidings, and went on to
tell the little incident mentioned above. You will agree with me that it
would be strange indeed if I were not a believer in the power of prayer.
Nor was this all. Some little time after, I picked up a pocket-book
exactly like one of my own, and thinking that it was mine, opened it.
The lines that caught my eye were an entry in the little diary, which
belonged to my sister, to the effect that she would give herself daily
to prayer until GOD should answer in the conversion of her brother.
Exactly one month later the LORD was pleased to turn me from darkness to
light.
Brought up in such a circle and saved under such circumstances, it was
perhaps natural that from the commencement of my Christian life I was
led to feel that the promises were very real, and that prayer was in
sober matter of fact transacting business with GOD, whether on one's own
behalf or on behalf of those for whom one sought His blessing.
[Illustration]